Living Legend : Book 5 : The Locket
by Cass Eastham
Summary: Kess's brother, Nik Lendra, has been captured by the Empire as use as a pawn so Grand Moff Jakobi can retain power as the new Emperor's top aide. Zach Vanech, the assassin-looking pimp, begins his Jedi Training. Luke figures out the other man with which Kess has growing feelings. All the while, the Alliance rushes to prepare for the final advance on Coruscant.
1. LL5 00 Summary

**If you haven't read Living Legend Books 1 through 4, turn back now.**

 **Summary :** Kess's brother, Nik Lendra, has been captured by the Empire as use as a pawn so Grand Moff Jakobi can retain power as the new Emperor's 'top aide'. Zach Vanech, the assassin-looking pimp who helped them out of the Plan Cresh mission, begins his Jedi Training. Luke begins his own training on how to be a mate, and his first lesson is facing jealousy when he figures out the other man with which Kess has growing feelings. All the while, the Alliance rushes to prepare for the final advance on Coruscant.

 **Rating/Genre** : R / Mature : Family, Drama, Romance, Sex, Violence, Language, Tragedy, and several Major Character Deaths.

 **Dramatis Personae :** Luke Skywalker, OC Kess Lendra, Wedge Antilles, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, OC Zach Vanech, OC Nik Lendra, Chewbacca, Rogue Group, the Girly Girls, and the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi.

 **Length :** 106K words / 52 Chapters.

 **The Living Legend series is Complete.**

* * *

 **Music:**

LL5 Ch 02 — Not Yet — Gift of Light by Nadama & Shastro on Reiki Offering

LL5 Ch 20, 21, 22, 23 — FOUR (days left before the launch) — Prelude by VNV Nation on Judgment.

LL5 Ch 39 — Aftermath —The Host of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance

LL5 Ch 43 — The List — As It Fades by VNV Nation on Judgment

LL5 Ch 44 — Half of the Family — Secluded Spaces by VNV Nation on Judgment.

LL5 Ch 48 — And the Cease Fire Held — Dungtitled (In A Major) by Stars of the Lid on And Their Refinement of The Decline

LL5 Ch 52 — The Locket — Of Passion and Peace by Paul Adams on The Property of Water


	2. LL5 01 TEN — Return to the Clearing

A bug crawled on top of a fallen log and rested in a glorious beam of sunlight. He was big bug, about the size of a lightsaber power cell, fat and juicy, with an exoskeleton that flapped when he needed to get down from a high place. He would be an enticing morsel for a bird save for the bright warning of hot pink poison striping along his dark brown body.

The bug was in a good mood, for the rain was gone and the log was vacant. The bark on this kind of tree was particularly yummy. He used to come here a lot when he was still a little bug, but other creatures infested the place for a long time. They smashed tree bark and squished grass until their foreign stink permeated all that delicious crust.

But now the creatures were gone and the rains washed their stink away. Baby grass grew out of the pounded mud. A new branch reach down from a neighbor tree and tickled the log with its tiny leaves as a friend petting a passed loved one. The bug twittered its pink and brown wings with happiness and reached out with its antennae to peruse that the crushed bark for a first scrumptious bite.

A noise.

The stink came first. The slow pounding of big feet came second. The bug rushed his little feet for cover in the twisted mess of dead roots at the far end, but Luke Skywalker saw him before the little guy got away.

Luke stopped his boots. He put a hand out to stop the advance of the person behind him. Kess stepped up behind his shoulder and peeked.

Panicked, the bug ran hard until dove into a crack between dead roots. They weren't chasing him like a bird would, but he was angry now and turned around to look at these returning invaders. In defiance, he grabbed the nearest bite of bark he could reach, gestured rudely with his antennae, and disappeared.

Luke smiled big. Kess smiled too. "I think we interrupted lunch."

Luke stepped over the log and dropped the duffel to the other side with routine, but he noticed the new grass in the formerly naked mud spot under his feet. "I knew I was missing this place," he said as he squatted to rummage through the duffel. "Guess it's been longer than I thought."

"It's only been a month," her eyes shifted, "or two?"

"Nature doesn't wait to take back what's hers," Luke said. He pulled out a rolled up blanket and shook out the dust and twigs from its previous use.

Kess sat on the long in her usual spot but didn't take off her little backpack. She looked up at the canopy, the flitting birds, a rodent on a far branch. . . . She took a big sigh and closed her eyes, but then opened them in gentle sorrow to gaze at the clearing. "Guess it was never really ours to begin with, was it?"

Luke shared a sad grin. He spread the blanket out and lay it flat on the old, stronger grass toward the back of the clearing. Kess watched him do this with lament. How long had she waited for training to be over so she could make out with him in this beautiful place? Had he considered the same? This was their place to be alone together, even when they weren't together. But now . . . .

A third pair of boots stepped slowly up the path behind them both. Ice eyes shifted with distaste to take in this setting. Zach Vanech shrugged his hands. "What the fuck is this?"

Luke finished tugging the corners until the blanket was flat and stood tall again. "It's just a place."

Zach looked around again, his mouth grimacing at the feral trees, the sticky humidity. He quickly waved a mosquito from his face with panic.

Kess eyed him over her shoulder. "Have you ever been anywhere besides Coruscant?"

"I'm from Kein," he grunted. He stomped onto the log and jumped down the other side, crushing the new grass with his black boots. "But I don't remember it." He set his hands on his hips and looked up through the trees like they were a herd of foreign creatures.

"They don't have trees on Coruscant?" Kess grinned.

"Not this . . . untamed," he murmured with distrust.

Kess couldn't tell if Zach was fascinated or disgusted. She shared a grin with Luke as he returned to the duffel and pulled out bottles of water. He tossed one to her open hands and took a step to offer one in front of Zach.

Zach eventually noticed and took it. He unscrewed the cap and sipped, but looked back up at the unkempt trees and the birds. He strolled around a few paces and noticed water in the stream flowing wherever it wanted. Finally, in the center of the clearing, he faced down Luke and Kess sitting on the log and shrugged his hands until they slapped against his thighs. "What are we doing here?"

Luke flashed a new smile. He gestured to the blanket on the ground beside the man's feet and offered, "Sit down."

"Why?"

Luke laughed easily and shook his head. "Nothing bad is going to happen, Zach."

Zach pressed his mouth with impatience, turned his feet around, and lowered himself cross-legged on the blanket. He shrugged his hands from his knees. _Now what?_

Luke set the water bottle aside. "Do you remember how to meditate?"

Zach pinched one eye shut and angled his chin down. "You're fucking kidding me."

With a grin, the Jedi Master shook his head.

The assassin-looking pimp set a hand on his thigh and glared. "After all I've done, and _this_ what you want to start me with?"

Luke set his hands on either side of his knees and locked his elbows. "Have you ever been in a bacta tank?"

"Yeah, why?"

Luke sat up again and gestured at the nature around them. "Think of this place as a bacta tank for Jedi." He arched a brow with a new smile. "And you are long overdue for a dip."

Kess smiled at the humor of this too, but kindly so, because she understood Zach's reaction far better than Luke probably could.

Zach's untrusting eyes observed them both, then his finger motioned at them both. "And you two are just going to sit here and watch?"

"No." Luke concluded quickly and stood up again. He tossed the bottle back to the bag. "Actually, we're going on a hike. Just to give you some privacy, though. We won't be far."

Zach looked around again, eyeing for predators, and not trusting it when he didn't sense any. There were no safe walls here. No trusty surfaces. The wind blew at an unscheduled beat. The trees made noise. "I don't like it here."

Kess stood with Luke and both stepped over the log to leave. "We won't be far," Luke promised.

And they walked away.

Kess waited until they were well out of earshot before she tittered. "He's like a thirty year old callus."

"Yeah," Luke murmured, both watching their own boots as they hiked away. "But there must still be something underneath it or he wouldn't be here."

In comfortable silence, listening to the birds caw and the trees whisper, inhaling the richness of the earthy smells, Luke and Kess strolled through the jungle toward Toban Ridge. One by one, they climbed up the boulders that littered its base, soon finding a wide, naked stone that rose almost above the tree canopy. They'd never been to this spot before, but that didn't matter. Luke crested it first and turned around to offer a help up. She stood on the boulder next to him and looked at the view.

It wasn't much of a view. They weren't high enough to see over the trees. And Toban Ridge reached up meters above their heads behind them. Still, there were birds out there. And the treetops were greener in this sunlight. The red-orange gas giant spread above them like a cowering ball of cooling lava.

Kess sat down and took off her backpack.

Luke draped one leg over the side of the boulder and set up his other knee to prop his elbow. His eyes kept aim at the jungle where Zach was, though the man was hidden from conventional sight. "There he goes."

Kess glanced. She still couldn't sense the man's demeanor, but she decided not to make an issue with Zach Vanech's unwavering Empathy block. She wondered if Zach was letting Luke in or if Luke could just see through it.

"Guess we're going to have to find a new spot now, huh?" She settled on her hip as she pulled out snacks from the backpack.

"Like what, an apartment?"

Kess flashed a laugh.

Luke turned teasing smile at her. "Are you dropping hints now?"

"I didn't say that!" But her giggle was guilty. "You said it. I didn't say that."

Still grinning madly, Luke picked a mipnut out of the container she offered and popped it into his mouth. He eyed directly into her guilt, but this kind of guilt made him glow.

"House on a beach cliff," she admitted maturely, meeting his gaze. "But only if you're taking requests."

"Hm." He still grinned about it as he plucked out another nut and chewed. He looked out towards the clearing again, but his tone softened to reality. "Honestly, I'm not sure what we're going to do about finding a place like this once we take Coruscant back."

"The Temple underneath the Palace was quieter," she offered, but she didn't like that idea much either.

He selected another nut. "We'll explore it, of course, but. . . . It's not going to work as a 'home'."

"Leia's not going to want our growing gang too far from the Capital," she thought aloud. "Not if we expect to get Senate support for all this."

"Well," he tongued a piece of nut from a molar. "The Senate support is going to be a drop in the bucket compared to all the other stuff they've got going on. Even still, I don't want us far from the Capital either."

"So what are we going to do?" Kess asked, looking at him for the big answers.

He shrugged and his eyes found her again. "We'll think of something."

In truth, they had bigger missions between here and there anyway. A lot could happen in the next few months. And a lot could go terribly wrong.

Upon the gang's return from the Plan Cresh mission, the first order of business that day was to debrief the details to dozens of stiff faces in the CIC bunker. The plan wasn't as a successful as they hoped. Six representatives the Serra Systems were present at Prince Petra's party, but not all of them got the chance to read the Alliance's proposal before they were expected to agree to it. Additionally, Baron Flintob of Kein was still clueless about what Petra's carefully worded toast was really about. Leia had the daunting task of confirming that each of the system representatives understood and agreed to the Alliance proposal without actually contacting any of them.

But that was Leia's job now, Luke said to console Kess's worry, and the Jedi had a different one.

The Alliance was quick to react to the new face disembarking the _Falcon_. No one trusted Zach Vanech, and for good reason, but they extended as much respect as they could afford. Vanech was not permitted on base except by escort of either Luke or Kess. Period. There was a brief thought that Lando or Han could show him around, but Mon Mothma doused that idea as soon as she learned of Vanech's childhood history and slumbering Force skills. They didn't treat him like a criminal or a captive, but he wasn't part of the rebellion yet either.

Vanech didn't seem to mind any of this. The day they arrived, Lando drove him out to South Base where he took his freshly earned bounty and reserved a hotel room for a long stay. And the first thing he did when he was alone was make a subspace com call.

Amongst a choice few in a big office, there was some quiet disagreement whether they should tap the call. On the one hand, the man had a right to privacy, not to mention the deeper need to show the mission-helper and tentative Jedi Apprentice some basic respect. On the other hand, the Alliance needed some assurance that the man was not a threat, especially after Luke admitted to the rest that Zach Vanech was indeed on the dark side.

Kess watched the difficulty brew in Luke's brain while that meeting was going down. The Jedi Master acquiesced, uncomfortably, with a compromise that the other two Jedi—alone—would review the call after it was finished so they could simply state the level of threat in non-detailed, numerical terms.

Mon Mothma was fine with that, and Luke and Kess tapped in from the CIC bunker to watch a recording of the call together.

Predictably, Vanech had called Saffron, and most of it was the tone of 'Where the hell did you go?' and 'When will you be back?' The most Vanech told her was that he was 'taking some time off to clear his head'. Saffron seemed to know why without explanation. He then told her she was in charge of everything until his return. He told her who was handling what, who to trust, who not to trust, and gave her some codes (but told them _in_ code) so she could access anything she needed. Finally, he told her that if she needed anything that he couldn't manage from a distance to call Prince Petra because 'that little fuck owed him a _big_ fucking favor'. Saffron seemed to accept all this with reluctance, but seemed pleased to know he was safe.

Finally, she asked with a different tone. "Did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"Whatever that thing was? With the lost kitten?"

Vanech paused before answering that. He said, "Don't know yet." Then added, "But make sure everyone knows their exit routes."

That too was probably in code, and Saffron nodded like it was a sinister password.

On a scale from one to ten, Luke reported to Mon Mothma and Leia that Vanech's call was a 'two', but the man could still likely be much higher than that until they pulled him back into the light.

That's when Mon Mothma's eyes turned from Jedi Skywalker to Jedi Lendra. "May I have a moment?" It came out the strength of a calm order. The woman moved gracefully to a chair and sat down.

Kess grinned goodbye at Luke and dutifully turned to go.

"No. With _you_." Mon Mothma pointed at Kess and eyed the others instead. She was dismissing Luke and Leia.

The pair eyed each other deeply as they both turned and left. The others filed out of the room as well. Admiral Ackbar was the last to close the door behind them all.

Kess was still in her bone and brown civilian clothes, but she stood at attention anyway.

Mon Mothma seemed humored by this and gestured to the other chair.

Uncomfortable, Kess sat down . . . at attention.

"I'm speaking with you directly because I feel it would be inappropriate at this point to put this through a proper Chain of Command."

Kess rubbed her lips hard, but she nodded. If she was talking about the military, Leia was in the way. If she was talking about the Jedi, Luke was in the way. And both now carried personal bias on certain decisions in Kess's life.

Kess braced herself. She knew this meeting coming.

"You're helping Jedi Skywalker handle Vanech." It was a statement, not a question.

"Much as I can," she confirmed.

Mothma spoke carefully. "You're nephew is Force-Sensitive. Yes?" She lifted her chin.

"Yeah. I'm mean, yes, ma'am. I guess he is."

"And your brother is, at the moment, Emperor Tovecus."

Kess scratched her eyebrow. "Um. Yes, ma'am."

Mon Mothma nodded, starting high and ending low, then nodded again. "I have, on my desk, right now, a request to re-assign one Lieutenant Lendra to the _Supply Warehouse_." He words ended with a pointing eyeball.

Kess bit her blushing mouth closed.

Mon Mothma continued to stare at her with an angled chin of instruction. The ridiculousness of this was clear in the Chief Commander's Force Print.

Kess fought the shy smile, but she groaned at the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes and returned her hands to clasp neatly in her lap. She blinked a dozen times and finally met Mon Mothma's pressing gaze with bravery. "Chief Commander, I think it's time I resign my commission so that I can focus on my Jedi duties."

Mon Mothma hardly let her finish. "I think so too," and popped out of her chair.

Kess remained in hers for a moment more and watched the uncertainties blossom along this new life landscape.

Mon Mothma had already moved on, speaking easy and quiet as she returned to her desk. "As decorated soldiers of the Rebellion, you and Jedi Skywalker will both retain access to military facilities until we leave Yavin 4, but we must consider you civilians now."

Kess slowly stood and faced the facts. She wondered a thousand things but didn't have the guts to ask them. She took only what information Mon Mothma offered up without question and ended the conversation with, "It's been and honor and a privilege."

To that, Mon Mothma smiled; a genuine, wide, warm smile. "And we were fortunate to have you."

Kess went home alone after that. She didn't tell anyone. Not yet. Luke probably guessed, but he didn't say anything. Still not a full day since they're return, there was too much to do; things like sleep, shower, do the laundry, answer mail, pay bills. . . find a THX1138 chip for Artoo . . . put up with Dad's yelling and Gina's fussing over what was happening with Nik . . . and get Zach Vanech out to the clearing as soon as possible so the man could _kriffing relax!_

But he wasn't the only one that needed it. The Plan Cresh mission took a toll on them too.

So, while Zach Vanech struggled alone in the clearing to clumsily remember how to meditate, Luke and Kess lay down on that high boulder and basked in the sun like a pair of lizards so they could meditate for a long time too.

Stretched out on his back, Luke suddenly rolled his head to the side and peek one eye open toward the clearing.

Stretched out perpendicular from him, Kess picked her head up from his hip and looked for a clue. "What?"

Luke exploded in a giddy little snicker. "He fell asleep."

She sat up giggling. "That just means it worked."

Yavin was half gone over the horizon. Unhurried, they climbed up from their lounge and packed away everything in the backpack. Refreshed. Peaceful. Perfect teamwork.

"Y'know," Luke mentioned, looking out at the green trees and coasting birds. "I just noticed a flaw in your plan."

Kess threaded the backpack behind her arms and began the climb down. "What plan?"

Luke was quiet as climbed down behind her, but he was quiet for a beat longer when they reached the jungle floor and began picking their way back. He waited until they were nearly in hearing range of the clearing, to the point that she couldn't respond without intrusion, before he answered.

"Yavin 4 doesn't _have_ a beach cliff."


	3. LL5 02 Not Yet

Zach woke with a rattle of his head and looked around like he'd been sedated against his will, but he didn't complain. He seemed to be in a calmer mood as they returned to town. Luke drove them off base to drop Zach off back at his hotel and Zach hopped out of the back Canali 250 like he had springs on his feet.

But he stopped short and turned back to slap a hand on Kess's door. He ducked under the cover to look at Luke. "Tomorrow?"

Luke smiled from ear to ear, and he nodded. "I'll comm you in the morning."

Zach slapped his palm on the door with that decision and turned to trot up to the building.

As they drove away again, Kess poked. "You're not make him _run the grinder_? Get up at oh-dark-hundred and—

"Not _yet_ ," Luke laughed lightly. "That man is an entirely different project."

Kess pouted like a little kid. "It's not fair."

Luke mocked her pout, grinned, and let it go. Then he said sneaky, "but I'm going to."

She glanced over. Was that an invitation? A hint? Just a thought spoken aloud? Kess opted to handle this without trying to get more information by Jedi skill. She watched South Base slide by for a moment and said, "Me too."

His Force Print bubbled, and his voice was smugly quiet. "Good."

As they drove back on base, Kess looked longingly out the window. She focused on the buildings she'd been to, and the buildings she hadn't. There was Admin. There was med lab. There was the distant stretch of towering Pad Complexes. And there was the grinder, complete with abandoned bleachers and nearby picnic benches with built-in barbecue grills. It was just a base, just a posting. But this place had grown to feel like home.

And now they were about to leave it.

"I resigned my commission this morning," she said, still staring out the window.

Luke cruised down the block and pulled into the parking lot behind his barracks. "I know." His tone was consoling.

He parked and they both got out. Usually after a clearing visit, she'd just walk back to her own barracks from here, if he hadn't already dropped her off closer.

"I didn't want to," she confessed, still standing beside the speeder.

Luke had already taken several steps, but now he stopped, and he looked back. He gave her a sympathetic nod. "I know."

Kess swallowed hard. How was it that she was more terrified of the future now than when all that was happening? She rubbed her lips and sighed fast, but the reality weighed down her lungs.

He motioned her along. "Come up."

She moved her feet but was already shaking her head, "You've got a roommate—

"Come up."

It wasn't an invitation to stay the night. It was just a chance to have a moment alone for a friend to support a friend during this scary moment in life. Kess followed stiffly and followed him into that same old familiar apartment.

But now it felt crowded. The Jedi records and the terminal were in crates and burying the tiny dining table. Werdun was sitting in the chair with his beady Bothan eyes staring at the vid. Artoo was still dead as a doornail in the corner with his box of brains on the kitchenette counter nearby. The place was a cluttered disaster compared to what it was before. It felt like the difference between Coruscant and the clearing.

Kess stood in the middle of the floor trying to catch up with all these changes, but Luke seemed to take it in stride. He gave Werdun a passive greeting and motioned Kess with him into his bedroom. She knew sex wasn't on his mind. This was common barracks practice for having private conversations, but it still felt suggestive. She shuffled through the door and stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the neatly made black bedspread and tried to figure out what to do next.

About _everything_.

Luke stepped around to the table and set his lightsaber and comlink away, but then he came back to her, standing close by her side, gently unlatched hers with significance of statement.

She met his eyes in a glance just as he turned away with it, so she unlatched the outer belt of her tunic so she could drop the whole thing to the floor. But that's all she took off. She fell back on the bed like a falling slab of stone and stared up at the ceiling.

Luke slowly sat down beside her head. His knee shifted onto the bed so he could half-turn towards her, and dropped his elbow on his knee. He looked at his lap and waited with silent support.

"How did you do it?"

His face almost lifted. "Do what?"

She rolled to her side and propped her head up with her palm. "When you found out who your father was?"

His mouth fidgeted in thought.

"How did you . . . get back to work? How did you conquer everything after that?" She fidgeted with a loose lock of hair behind her ear and finally dropped her ear to her inner elbow with a painful grimace. "He lied to me."

Luke stretched a sympathetic grin. His voice was gentle, "Only from a certain point of view."

She found his gaze, remembering again that Luke knew her grandfather nearly as well as she did. Maybe more. But for as much as that man was in their lives growing up, there was so very little they knew about Obi Wan Kenobi. He may have had his reasons to keep secrets when he was alive, and they granted him that, but now that he was gone . . . and yet _still_ could communicate? Kess felt the man had no more excuses to not to untwist certain questions of history.

Nikolai Lendra's DNA came up positive, confirmed to be a direct offspring of Obi Wan Kenobi. No one wasted time fretting about the Empire's lie that it was Obi Wan Kenobi to become Darth Vader. Those that knew better chocked it up to the truth that the Empire couldn't get their hands on a Skywalker offspring they could manipulate. But now the Empire had Kess's brother, and they dressed him up in robes and a helmet, and they gave him a Sith title, and the Empire was (supposedly) secure once more—even though 'Darth Tovecus' not yet done one damn thing. The only thing that kept Kess calm was the promise that, as the new Emperor, Nik was physically safe in his golden chains.

It killed her to leave him behind when the Plan Cresh mission was over. As the _Falcon_ was fighting its way off the planet, Luke helped Kess through an exercise to try to send her thoughts to her brother. Untrained and probably drugged, they had no idea if Nik could hear her in his mind, but Kess remained hard focused to send consoling thoughts nonstop until they hit hyperspace.

The entire trip home, Luke focused on providing as much emotional support as he could muster. Every day he was by her side or granted her meditation privacy whenever she seemed to want either. And every night he held her close and calm as if his body served as a blanket of safety and strength so she could rest.

Over all, she was holding it together pretty well, but she still swelled with moments of desperate worry . . . like now.

Luke rubbed her nearby forearm. "We'll get him back."

"But what will he _be_ when we get him back?" Her challenge was shaky.

He pressed his mouth, "If we can bring Zach back—

"That's different!"

"I know, but still." Then he pointed out, "I got my father back."

Kess stared at his eyes. It was hard to believe, but there was no lie in it. And Luke wasn't the kind of person to hide behind 'certain points of view'.

"Anybody can turn," he said, "which means anybody can turn back." He rubbed her forearm again. "We'll get him back."

Kess nodded, unconvinced.

Luke waited a long time to let that rest, to let her say more, but she closed her eyes and calmed herself from the entire topic.

"So let me answer your question," he lowered slowly to his side and propped his head in his palm too. He half-curled around her the same way she half-curled around him, him in black and her in bone white, facing each other like a yin yang on the bed. "I _didn't_ get back to work."

Kess shifted her head in her hand, squinting.

Luke thought into his memory and worked to put it into words. "I didn't jump out and conquer anything after that. In fact, the first thing I did was retreat."

She listened.

Luke met her eyes. "The first thing I did was try to eat. And try to rest." He rubbed his lips. "Went to med lab and got a new hand." He wiggled his fake fingers from his hip.

She softened, smiling sadly.

"And I panicked a little," he admitted. "And I mourned and . . . I stomped and . . . I yelled . . . and finally decided to just take one thing at a time. The first order of business was obvious, and it helped get my focus back when I sat down and built a new lightsaber."

"A new one?"

"Well, yeah." He smiled big. "My old one is um . . . somewhere . . . _with my hand_."

Kess fought the laughter and dropped her face to the bed to hide it, but he was chuckling too.

She pushed back up and wiped her eye. "I'm sorry. I know it's not funny."

"I can laugh about it now," he said. "I sure couldn't at the time."

Her mouth stretched supportively. "Well," she sighed anew, "thankfully, I don't have to build a new lightsaber."

"Or get a new hand," he sniggered.

She giggled tightly, trying not to, but Luke was just trying to break the tension, and it worked. She came back to the topic a little less overwhelmed. "What do you think I should do first?"

His gaze fell away as if trying to look at his own nose. He considered this with a tight sigh, and adjusted his head in his palm to meet her gaze again, but with less humor. "Depends on who you're asking."

To this, she sobered, but she faced it. "Does my Master have different advice than my friend?"

His chin nodded, barely, but a couple of times.

"Can't I ask them both?"

He angled his head. He hadn't thought of that. And he nodded, "Which one you want first?"

Her grin grew, "The one I'm going to like the least."

"Okay." He shifted himself face down on the bed, propping his chest up with his elbows. His eyes flicked to the air to figure out his wording, then looked at her firmly. "Stop worrying about your brother until you can do something about it. And go train your nephew."

Her mouth twisted to the side. She met his gaze a long time, and finally huffed that off. "And the other one?"

"Retreat." He said it softly. "Allow yourself a moment of panic. Take a few days to sort out the business of living that's got you so worked up." His eyes were sincere, "You don't have to have a whole mission plan before getting started on the obvious stuff."

Somehow, that let her breathe. She sighed big and hard as if she'd been holding it in for a long time. To hear him say that, even though it wasn't packaged in the form of a Master's permission, still felt like a huge relief. "Dammit, I just meditated for an hour!" She scolded herself and wiped her eyes again. "Why is this roaring back so fast?"

"Because you haven't resolved any of it," he smiled the obvious.

"Okay. Okay." Kess took another deep sigh aimed at the bedspread and stared at the blackness of it. "Okay. I don't have a job."

His face brightened, his mouth opened—

"And don't throw that Rogue Group thing at me. I resigned my commission so I can't work for Wedge either."

He snapped his mouth shut, but the grin was still there. He pinched his eyes closed, but one pinched more than the other.

"What?" She leaned forward until her body was against the edge of the table. " _What?_ It's not like you've got a job either!"

"Well, not that it's a permanent solution, but you don't need one of those anyway—

 _"What?"_

He inhaled slowly and met her eyes mischievously. "I happen to know someone who could really use a skilled hand getting his ship back in shape so it doesn't break on every blasted mission."

Kess angled her head and shook it. "I would never approach him for something like that."

"What if he approached you?"

"Does he need me?" She challenged.

" _I_ think he does," Luke said. "Leia certainly does or she wouldn't have sent you with us last time."

"But I'm not going to push it on him unless _he_ thinks he does. You know how much he hates letting new people work on the _Falcon_."

"That's why you're perfect for it," his voice almost whined. "You've already been through the Han Solo boot camp."

"What about Chewie?"

"I think his invitation was clear enough when he started teaching you how to understand Wookiee."

She thought about this a minute. "I'm glad to do it _if_ he asks me. But I'm not going to walk up to Han Solo and tell him he needs help. For one, he wouldn't respond to that well—

Luke opened his mouth and rolled his head in a silent groan.

—and for two, I respect the man too much to insult him like that."

He hiked into a real whine now. "Have you considered the fact that the only reason he hasn't thought of this himself is because he thinks your Jedi Master had dibs on you the moment you quit your commission?"

Kess cocked her jaw. He had a good point.

"Like I said, it's temporary anyway. But it's short work with a little income so you can keep your own ship in the air. And for me, personally, I like our odds better if he had you spending every waking hour on that thing until we launch for Coruscant."

"I'll think about it." She granted him appreciation. "It is a good idea."

Luke nodded succinctly. He watched her eyes float around the a little, and not entirely confident. "What else?"

Kess didn't even want to talk about this one, but she knew she had to get this thorn out of her brain if she was going to get anything else done. "I gotta go see Dad."

Luke blinked. "You've haven't seen him yet?"

They'd been back for a day and a half. By now, the man would have heard it on the street, if not in the Newsnets, that Luke and Kess were back on Yavin 4.

She shook her head. Kess tried to make it not sound like an accusation, but it did anyway. "Leia said that he received a 'Regret To Inform You' letter, but that no one sent him a follow up letter that it was mistake."

His eyes closed with incredible regret.

"I guess he found out I was still alive by some Newsnet thing on Tatooine."

"I forgot." He dropped back onto the bed and put his palms over his face. "I am so sorry, I forgot." But then he squinted at her. Not accusing; just surprised. "You didn't comm him from Med Lab?"

She squeaked back, "I didn't know you sent him a letter!" But she was laughing about it. This was a simple misunderstanding. She understood that. And fair enough that Luke was too distracted with her in recovery to have a moment to think about her father. But now they had to deal with the fall out of it.

"Will you come with me?" She asked, instantly concerned if this 'face the in-laws' kind of moment was too soon for them.

But Luke lifted his brows with ease, "Well, yeah, I have to. I owe him an apology." He lifted back onto his elbow and met her eyes.

"You don't have to do that while I'm there though," she stuttered.

He shrugged a hand from his hip. "You just asked me to come with you. And now you're trying to talk me out of it?"

"Well, just . . . that . . . it was the Jedi Master that made the mistake. Not the . . . um. . . ." She swallowed hard and looked at him shyly. What should she call him now?

Luke saw her eyes, and his grew to a mad sparkle. "Boyfriend, suitor, mate. Whichever term you prefer."

She flushed, but she kept it together and tried to word it any other way before she gave up and just blurted it, "Are you ready to face the potential in-laws with that though?"

He nodded. A lot. "I think I'm late for that actually."

"How do you figure?" They'd only been 'official' for three weeks.

He shrugged the obvious. "You've already been through enough with my family."

She warned, "You know you're the worst possible person I could bring home, right?"

Luke flashed a new laugh. "Oh, he made that pretty clear when I met him on Tatooine."

Nervous, she dropped her gaze to the bedspread again.

"Why are you trying to talk me out of it?" He asked with a gentle grin.

"I'm not. I'm just . . ." She faced him with the truth. "This thing with us is still so new. And all that before . . . you were so. . . . "

He gave her a moment to finish, but she didn't.

"Trapped." He said for her.

She glanced up.

"I was trapped in the ethics of it. But now . . . now I've got a hell of a learning curve ahead of me. I've got a lot to make up for. A lot of habits to change. . . . Now I've got to earn it."

She shook her head, "I don't want you thinking of it like that."

"I know but remember what I said before," he rolled onto his elbows again to bring his face a little closer. "I don't want just a piece. I don't want just a moment. And these last few weeks, I can see how it seems that way. Especially on the outside. Everyone assumes we're together now, but nobody really knows it. And I know that you want people to _know_ it."

Kess absorbed his words like a clam breathing at the return of high tide.

He looked her in the eyes and said it in all seriousness. " _I love you_."

A smile spread across her face.

And he shrugged. "Just give me some time to figure out how to show that. To you _and_ the rest of the galaxy." He smiled again. "Remember I'm new at this."

Kess scrambled over the last bit and curled into his arms. Her face smashed so hard into his shoulder that her words were practically inaudible. "I love you too."

Luke held her close and tight and he sighed with just as much warm relief as she did.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. She still had Nik to worry about, but having solved some of these other uncertainties helped a lot. She settled back, not entirely pulling away from him. They rested side by side upside down on the bed, both heads propped up in palms so they could look at each other.

For a long beautiful minute, they just stared into each other's eyes.

Now that she was calmer, Kess could sense him better. Even if the expression wasn't already clear on his face, she detected it when an idea blossomed in Luke's brain.

She adjusted her head on her palm. "What did you _really_ bring me in here to talk about?"

"What do you mean?" He cringed at it like it was ridiculous, but the shine in his bashful eyes were bright when he yanked them away. "I brought you in here because you needed support."

She tried to shove him, but he was already rolling onto his back with a little laugh. He propped a boot on a pillow with his knee in the air and rested his hands behind his head, relaxing back in the bed like he was about to start daydreaming.

But Kess wasn't going to let him get out of it. "Bantha fodder," she sat up to harass him. "I didn't even need the Force to see that guilt."

"No, really." To this, he was sincere. "You were low and I wanted to help get you back up. That's all."

Sitting beside him and leaning over his torso, she studied his face. He met her eyes, calm and cool, for a long beat, but then they shined again and a big, guilty, smile invaded his face.

"You're lying."

"Yes, I am." He admitted, grinning bigger.

"You gonna tell me?"

He licked his lips, and sobered a little. "Not yet." But the shine never faded.

Kess angled her head.

"Soon." He promised, almost a whisper. "But not yet."

Kess draped her elbow across his body and rested her head in her hand. She let him get away with that one only because she liked the feeling he was emitting, so she enjoyed this moment for all it was worth.

Luke looked over her whole face, and reached up to touch a strand away from her forehead. Then he found her eyes and pushed himself up onto one elbow, landing a smooch on her mouth. "Stay the night?"

She dropped her eyes with a sigh, "I'm not really—

"That's not what I asked you," he pointed out.

She found his eyes again and he smiled softly about it. He whispered, "Stay the night."

Kess stayed the night, but they didn't fool around, just like on the trip back from Coruscant. Mostly, she just meditated in his arms, which was a different kind of meditation that doing it alone. And Luke held her close and strong so she could.


	4. LL5 03 Hallucination

_My name is Nikolai Lendra. My wife is Gina Lendra. My son is Ben Lendra. . . ._

Nik washed his face with the coldest water coming out of the tap. He set his palms on the navy marble counter top and locked his elbows. He stared at himself in the mirror and forced himself to see what his eyes saw.

Brown hair. Brown eyes. Tanned skin. Strong cheeks. Open mouth. A huffing breath made his shoulders rise and fall. Fresh out of the shower, he was naked save for the black towel wrapped around his waist. This was the moment in his day that he could remind himself he was human.

In the reflection of the mirror, his eyes saw that starring glint of the lights against the polished frame of the protocol droid. N4 was standing at the ready behind him. Or was it N5? He couldn't tell the two droids apart. But they were always there. _Tweedles Dum and Dee_ , Nik thought. He grinned. _That's what Dad used to call us._

He looked at himself in the mirror and saw that he was human. His saw that his shoulders and arms were big from moving barrels of solvent at work. His saw that his skin was darker than the skin he was born with because of all that time under twin suns. It wouldn't be long before he was ushered out of the semi-privacy of the lav and surrounded by Imperials in gray uniforms and red armor. So, for the moment he could stare into his own brown eyes, he recited it all in his mind again.

 _My name is Nikolai Lendra. I'm from Tatooine. Arkanis Sector. My mother is dead. My father is an alcoholic. My sister is a Jedi . . ._

The lights dimmed. N4 powered down with a dying electronic noise.

Nik looked over his shoulder. The droid stood like an abandoned marionette. He glanced to the ceiling. The lights glowed at half their usual brightness. Were they even adjustable?

His eyes came back down to find a bright man standing in the dark lavatory beside him.

 _Grandpa?_

Nik rattled his head and put both hands on his forehead, grunting in loud anger against the drugs.

"Calm down, Nikolai."

"I'm seeing things," Nik shuddered. "I'm hearing things—

"It's alright, lad. Calm down." The voice was soothing. "Breathe."

Nik controlled his breathing and slowly lowered his hands. Forcing himself to find bravery, he opened his eyes again. He glared untrusting at the vision of a ghost.

Obi Wan Kenobi looked just as he did the last time Nik saw him alive. Old, gray, wearing robes the color sand and dirt. The mouth behind the beard was a thin line of severity.

Uncertain and shuddering, Nik shook his head, smacking a parched mouth, and pleaded against this insanity. "Grandpa, they're drugging me, and they're," hard swallow, "I don't know where anybody is. I don't know if Gina and Ben—

"They're safe," Grandpa assured. "Gina, Ben, and your father are all safe. They're with Kesselia now."

"Kesselia," Nik tried to remember. "Kay Kay's a Jedi."

"Yes, she is." Grandpa nodded, "And she's coming to get you. She just needs a little time."

A knock sounded on the door. And knocks didn't wait long for Nik to answer before they barged in on him.

Nik stared at the ghost in a plea, "Wait—

The image was already fading. "Hang in there, Nik. I am with you. . . ."

The image was gone, the lights were back, and N4 perked back up and several people rushed into the bathroom.

"My lord? Are you alright?" Hands guided him away and pulled the towel from his naked hips. Palms pressed his shoulder and forced him to sit in on the lav chair. "Here let's get you dressed. N4, get Lord Tovecus some water. . . ."

Nik set his hands on his knees and stared wide eyed at the ground.

"Eye-Two? I think Lord Tovecus needs a little more practice."

 _My name is Nikolai Lendra. My sister is Kesselia Lendra . . . a Jedi. . . Kay Kay's a Jedi. Of course she's is coming to get me. Of course she would. Just gotta hang in there._

Nik offered over his forearm. And he took a deep breath as he stood and offered his other. They zapped him again, and made him recite it again, and he believed it again, but turning away from the event moments later, Nik saw the sunlight shining through the windows, and he remembered again.

Brightness.

The ghost was brightness.

The ghost was grandpa.

 _I am not alone._


	5. LL5 04 NINE — Unwelcome

Kess called ahead to make sure Gina was prepared to see her, and to make sure Dad was sober, but somehow Gina's assurance that he was didn't help her tension building in anticipation of this meeting. Luke held her hand in the lift to lend her as much strength as he could but separated once they were in the hall. They were both in civvies for this, Kess noted, as if Luke was trying to make a statement by not coming to face her father in Jedi Uniform. But what did that matter when they both had lightsabers on their hips?

Gina was first because it was her husband in Imperial custody. The moment she opened the hotel room door, Gina came out and gave Kess a big hug, more to receive the support in it than in relief that Kess was alive, but that was okay. As they stepped into the suite, Ben was playing with model fighters on the drink table and peaceful animated shows played on the vid for him.

Kess tried to wave at him. "Hi, Ben."

The boy looked over, squinted for recognition, and waved back, lost. "Hi."

"It's your Aunt Kess," Gina told him. "Come give her a hug."

Ben looked blankly at Kess for a long moment. But _in_ that moment, Kess could feel tentacles of curiosity reaching at her. She smiled big, nearly laughing, "You trying to figure me out?"

"I don't remember you," he explained simply.

"I know. I understand. That's okay." She stepped over and sat on the floor on the other side of the short table. "You don't have to give me a hug if you don't want to."

He angled his head at her. "You kinda look like my dad."

"That's because I'm your dad's little sister. I've just been away because of my job."

"What's your job?"

She pointed at the toys. "I fix those."

Ben began to grin. "Like, real ones?"

"Mm hm." She nodded. She pointed at the other stranger standing on the side of the room. "And he flies them."

Ben's bushy blonde hair fell in his face with whiplash. He tried not to look excited, but it didn't work. "You do?"

Luke nodded.

Ben sat up fast. "Can I see it?"

All three adult heads shook at that, Luke took control and answered politely as he sat down in the nearby chair. "Someday. But only if your mom and dad say it's okay."

Ben slumped to that. "Dad's not here." His Force Print tightened hard.

Luke and Kess exchanged glances.

Gina couldn't hold it in anymore. "Can you _please_ tell me what's going on with Nik?"

To that, they both got up and ushered Gina into the nearest bedroom so they could close the door.

"We don't know yet. We know they're posing him as Emperor Tovecus but—

"But Nik would never do that!" She pleaded. "Nik would never go along with that!"

Kess took over. "I know. I know. But remember that he hasn't actually _done_ anything yet. All we've seen of him is standing at presentations and not even saying anything—

"So they did kidnap him."

"We think so. Yeah."

"Then why did he leave me the note?" Gina accused.

Kess heard about it but Gina was right, it didn't add up. "Can I see it?"

Stomping, Gina rushed over to a folio on the dresser and brought it back over.

It was on paper! And a ripped piece of one at that. So old it had almost yellowed to parchment by now. The fluid, ink pen handwriting was close, but Kess didn't think it was Nik's.

 _"The time has come for the next generation to take their place in history. And I must do my part. Thank you for everything. The Force will always be with you. And so will I."_

Kess blinked back. "This isn't from Nik. This is from Grandpa."

"What?" Gina snatched it from her fingers to look closer.

Kess pointed, "That's the note Grandpa left Grandma when he left."

Luke offered gently, "Perhaps Nik knew he was in trouble and left it hoping Gina would recognize it and call you for help."

Kess nodded hard to that. That was likely. To Gina, she asked. "What happened when he went missing?"

Gina shook her head. "He just didn't come home from work one day. That was it. And when I went out looking for him, Regit told me that Nik said to tell me about this note."

"Who's Regit?"

"His friend from work. They go to the pub on Centaxdays and watch sports or something."

Luke and Kess looked at each other and put it together, nodding alike. Kess murmured, "He knew he was in trouble."

Luke suggested, "As soon as he realized what was happening, he told Regit the message, and let himself get taken so they didn't come looking for his family too."

Kess nodded, "That sounds like Nik."

"So this isn't from Nik?" Gina seemed to panic more about that.

"No, it's from Grandpa. You never met him, but he was a Jedi. And Nik thought fast to keep you safe."

Gina took a big sigh and wiped her face with her palms. " _But he's not safe!_ "

Luke assured. "If they've got him posing as the Emperor, I guarantee that his health is not in danger. If anything, he's just drugged right now. We're going to get him out of there. As fast as we can. But in the meantime we need to keep you and Ben and Dane as safe as possible so the Empire doesn't come for you too."

Gina hugged herself and nodded. She was trying so hard to keep her cool. But this was the hardest part. Waiting. With no news and no details. Kess tried to hug her again but Gina pulled back as if this was all her fault.

Hurt by it, Kess tried to let it go. "Gina, please understand: the less you know; the safer he is."

Gina nodded, but her eyes were like knives. "Get him back," she said, then turned her knives to Luke. "And then we're going _home_."

Kess swallowed hard. Frowning, Luke nodded, but with respect. "I understand."

Luke and Kess exchanged a glance as they turned for the door.

"And so is my _son,_ " Gina hissed.

They paused, but Kess glanced back and met her eyes with a nod. "I get it, Gina." But she held out her hand and returned knives of her own. "May I have the note, please?"

Gina took a step and handed it over. "I don't want to see you again until he's back. You stay away from my son until my husband is back."

Kess took the note and left without another word.

In the hotel hallway, she shook her head. "And that was supposed to be the easy one."

Luke patted her arm and thumbed the chime of the hotel room next door.

Dane opened the door already pissed off. He looked at Kess, looked at Luke standing behind her shoulder, and turned to stomp back into the suite, leaving the door open.

As Luke closed the door behind them, Kess groaned quietly in the entrance hall. "I like your family better."

Dane paced the back of the living room until they were standing in it too. For a minute, they just let the man rant.

"I have to find it out on the _news_ that you're alive? Regret to inform you my ass! Was that your way of taking revenge? And not two weeks later Nik gets nabbed by the Imperials? Do you people have any idea the mess you've made of my family?"

Luke brought in a big breath. "Mister Lendra, I _am_ sorry I didn't write you again. I have no excuse."

" _No_ , _you don't!_ " Dane paced up to face Luke down, and Kess could smell the alcohol on his breath from where she stood beside him. "I didn't come here for my safety, you _sonofabitch_. I came here to kill you."

Luke looked at the floor and Kess could sense it. Luke didn't feel much like a Jedi right now. Right now, he felt like an unwanted suitor from the wrong side of Anchorhead.

Dane yelled louder, whipping his hand in the air with a fatherly threat. "And just because she's still alive doesn't mean you're pardoned. It just means that your death has been postponed!"

"I understand," Luke told him.

"Dad, he didn't know I was alive either—

"I don't give a damn!" He shouted, now stepping to her to cower over her. "How many people do I have to lose before you give up on this blasted—

Dane tried to grab her lightsaber off her hip so he could throw it, but he misunderstood the latch, giving Kess enough reaction time to grab it before it got away. She wagged the hilt at him with a scolding of her own. " _Don't!_ "

The old man's mouth grimaced so hard that his teeth came out. He looked ready to deck her.

" _Don't_." She ordered hard, and gestured the hilt at his nose. "There is nothing you can do about this. This is _me_. And you have to find a way to live with that."

"You think you're grandfather's proud of you, don't you?" He accused. "If he wanted you to be a Jedi, he wouldn't have given up his own knighthood in the first place!"

"Extenuating circumstances, Dad! The man was in hiding. And you know that—Hell, why am I even explaining this to you! You knew who he was all along!"

Dane gave her a dark look and paced deeper into the room again. As Kess continued, Dane picked up his tumbler and a bottle and poured himself another drink.

"He had a reason to lie to us all those years. _You_ didn't. Why didn't you tell me from the beginning that you weren't my real father?"

Dane slapped the bottle back down on the table and turned to her, but his voice lowered to a quiet cold. "She didn't want you to know."

"For Fuck's Sake, Dad! _Say. Her. Name!_ " Kess's wrath gurgled up so quickly that Luke reached over and tried to take her hand, but she whipped it away from him.

"Fine." Dane saw it, and he met Kess's eyes across the space. " _Alexi_ didn't want you to know."

"Why not?"

He flapped a hand in the air. "Why do you think? Because she didn't want you asking questions about who was!"

She fought right back, "Well, I'm asking them now!"

To that, Dane cocked back with angry pride. "She never told me his name. I'm not even sure she knew it."

Kess blinked.

"Does that make you feel better?" His voice was icy. Then he pointed with his drink. "And he didn't pay her very much for the privilege either. Maybe that's the nugget you were looking for, huh?"

Her stomach flipped, but she eyed her father to sense out if this was the truth or if he was just trying to sting her with lies. She couldn't tell.

Dane flopped back onto the couch with his drink and set his elbows on his knees. "Old Ben bought her so she wouldn't have to do that kind of work anymore. And from then on, everyone treated him like a fucking saint."

Stunned, Kess stepped in front of him. "Do Nik and I have the same father?"

"As far as I know," Dane said snidely. "I didn't ask her for a lot of details."

Palms covered her face. And soon Luke's hand was on her shoulder. She flashed anew. "Are there any records?"

"I doubt it." Dane said. "She didn't want you kids to know. Why would she leave records around for you to find?"

Kess yelled. "Dad, I need to know!"

"I don't have the answers you want, precious." Dane shrugged it off and slurped his drink. "If I did, I'd tell them to you. All I she told me was that somewhere between Stewjon and Tatooine, she got caught up in a bad business and would do _anything_ not to go back into it." He pointed hard at himself. "And _I'm_ the one who provided for her so she didn't have to."

Luke's chin shifted. "Stewjon?"

"What?" Dane blinked and rattled his head.

"She was from Stewjon?"

"Yeah. So? Y'know how many people in this galaxy who don't live where they were born?" Dane put a palm out at Luke and eyed Kess. "Get this idiot out of my face."

But Kess wasn't paying attention to Dane anymore. She was looking to Luke. "What?"

Luke met her gaze, but he had a new light in his. His brows settled. His expression told her to stay on this until they were finished—an explanation was soon forthcoming.

Kess accepted that. She sighed hard at her father. "Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?"

Dane finally sighed too, but he shook his head. "She didn't like to talk about it. And I didn't make her. She wanted a new life. Leave her old one behind." He shook his head again. "She wouldn't even tell me her _name_."

Kess blinked again. "Alexi wasn't her name?"

"No, she changed it when she got to Tatooine." Dane shrugged hard. "I _guess_."

Kess put a splayed palm over half of her face, then gestured hard at her father's naiveté. "Don't you get it, Dad? She was in hiding! Just like Grandpa!"

"Of course she was! Wouldn't you be if you were a sex slave? She didn't want the owner coming back for you kids!"

Luke finally spoke. "What if the sex slave was just part of her cover story?"

Dane curled his lip at Luke, "Leave before I break this table across your skull."

Luke took one step toward the drink table and eyed Dane as he plucked the tumbler out of the man's hand. "With respect, Mister Lendra, you couldn't pick up the table right now if you tried."

Dane shot to his feet with a shout, "Oh yeah, you wanna see?"

Kess stepped quickly between the two men with her palms out. The table remained on the floor between her and her father, but that just meant he had a handy weapon.

Her gesture made Dane pause. He relaxed and sat back down on the couch. She had to glance to see that Luke took a deep step back as well, and was now placing the tumbler on another table across the room.

"I'm going to wait in the hall," Luke murmured.

"No." Kess insisted. "No, you're not. You're gonna wait right here." She looked Luke hard in the eye and pointed at the floor beside her.

Kess had never ordered Luke to do anything like that before. Not once. Certainly not with such a harsh command as if _he_ was the one in trouble. But this was her arena, and her fight, so Luke turned his feet back and stepped back beside her as ordered.

She then turned to point a hard finger at her father with another harsh order. "And _you_ are going to get used to his presence."

Dane blinked away and waved it off.

"What about grandma?"

"What about her?" Dane challenged.

"Were she and grandpa already married when you met them?"

"Yep."

"Was she from Stewjon too?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Was she even Mom's mom?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

Kess drooped her head.

Dane shrugged his hands. "Hon, you're asking me shit I never had the answers to. I cared about _Alexi_. There. I said her name. _That's_ what I cared about. But Alexi came with a package so I cared about you guys too. _I did my job_. As a husband and a father. How dare you poke into to history so you can _pretend_ that I didn't."

"I'm not trying to pretend anything! I'm here, aren't I? I just need to know where me and Nik got our Force powers from. _That's_ why I'm asking all these questions."

"They came from your mother!"

"So mom _was_ Force sensitive?"

"Of course she was! Why do you think that fool bought her? All that bastard wanted was to turn the lot of you into his little heroes! But your mom was strong against it. And good for her for that!"

Kess took a deep, dark breath. Then, in an overwhelming bubble of frustration, she yelled at the ceiling. " _Now_ would be a good time for you to stop by and explain some of this!"

Luke touched her elbow.

Kess deflated. She sighed at the floor and motioned to her father. "Thank you. For what it's worth." She turned to leave with a hard tone. "For telling me the truth finally."

"Yeah, well, thanks for finally letting me know you're not dead." Without a glass within reach, Dane just reached and snatched the bottle from the table.

Kess spun and pointed and inhaled to shout—

But Luke spun to put his body between her and her father now. His palms came up gently. His eyes found hers with calm guidance.

It caught her and she forced herself to calm. She nodded at Luke, and Luke backed up. She took a deep breath and asked her father with respect. "Do you want me to come by again?"

Dane was melting now. He rested his elbow on the armrest and scratched his fingers into his black hair. His eyes were closed as if ready to go to sleep. "Just don't bring him." His words were slurred.

Brokenhearted, Kess struggled with what to say, what to do. She wanted to put him to bed. She wanted to hit him. She wanted more information. She wanted to yell and scream and cry. Instead of all that, she just grabbed her forehead with both angry hands and stormed for the door.

Outside, Kess paced a little circle in the hall, only then noticing that Luke hung back in the living room for a beat longer. Dane told him something and Luke didn't respond to it. He stepped out as severe as she had, just calmer about it, and shut the door behind him.

"What did he say?"

"Don't worry about it." He was frowning as he started down the hall.

Kess stepped fast in front of him with clenched teeth. " _What did he say?"_

Luke licked his lips carefully. Though his chin was level, his eyes were on the floor. "It was just an idle threat."

She scoffed sickly, "Worse than the one about killing you?"

By Luke's eyes, apparently it was.

Her heart sank. "What did he say?"

Luke clearly struggled, but he knew he was trapped in a corner. "He said that . . . if I marry you, you're not welcome back."

Breath escaped her lungs in a quick thrust. Was the idea even on the table? Even if it wasn't? Even if it _was_? Luke met her gaze like it was a threat worth its weight.

She tried to move, she tried to turn. She shrugged pitifully. "I guess the only good part of this is that you're not trying to convince me I don't have to worry about that decision, huh?"

Luke didn't say anything.

But Kess was already falling apart. She moved her arms in the air without even knowing if she wanted to shrug, or strangle something, or punch the wall. She finally just wrapped her forearms over her head and curled over in a tidal wave of tears.

Arms wrapped around her instantly and she dove into the chest and gripped him hard. She cried for a full minute, right there in the hall, and Luke held her tight and whispered into her hair. "I've got you."


	6. LL5 05 Records

Once she recovered from her moment of weakness, she wiped her eyes and pulled herself together. Luke agreed to tell her his revelation as soon as he confirmed it, but didn't want to muddle her head with falsehoods in case his memory was wrong. With all that she just learned, Kess agreed to that, and Luke took her home so she could meditate.

During the drive back, Kess looked at Grandpa's note again and wondered about all the new questions cropping up in her mind. She grew angrier for Grandpa not answering them already. She remembered when Nik showed the note to her the first time. They were hiding in her bedroom while Dad yelled at the coroners taking Grandma's body away. Three deaths in three weeks. Kess couldn't stop crying that day. Her big brother held her close, crying quietly himself, but still being the strong one so she could fall apart in a safe place.

"I guess there is one saving grace to all this," she finally said.

Luke pulled up next to her barracks and parked. He was saddened too. "What's that?"

She smiled through her tension. "Nik thinks you're awesome."

Luke smiled reluctantly and nodded. "Well, one down, I guess."

She unlatched the speeder door. "Call me as soon as you find that record, okay?"

"Sure."

She got out and closed the door. "And thank you for coming."

Luke pressed a difficult grin and nodded. "We'll warm him up. S'just going to take some time."

Kess shook her head with a low laugh as she walked toward her barracks. "You're more optimistic than I am."

* * *

Not two hours later, Luke was back, and Kess hadn't really meditated at all.

In the middle of everyone else's workday, none of the girlies were home. Kess let him in without hesitation. "Why did you just comm me?" Her eyes widened in fear. " _What did you find?"_

He motioned her over to the couch to sit down and explained as they did. "I came over instead of commed because we've been called into a meeting in an hour. But this is what I found." He flapped the datapad in his hand as he sat down and gave it to her, facing each other by sitting sideways on the couch. "I was right."

Kess looked it over as he explained.

"Obi Wan was born on Stewjon. The Jedi Order adopted students as babies. That's why we all keep thinking he's from Coruscant. But he must've had family back there. And now it makes sense. Maybe he had siblings. Force sensitivity _can_ skip generations, just like any other trait. So I think your mom was his niece or something to that effect. And she would have to go into hiding too because if the Empire found out she was Force sensitive with Force sensitive babies, you guys would be tracked down and killed by Order 66 too."

"So he reached out to anyone he knew was at risk."

"That's what I would've done."

"That would explain why Nik's DNA tested positive."

"And why Old Ben treated you guys like his own."

She put the datapad down. "We don't know this for sure though."

"I know. But it fits. And the Force tells me this is the truth."

"So I am a Kenobi after all."

Luke grinned softly. "I never doubted it."

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "For putting up with all this. I know this isn't your responsibility."

"In a way it is," he tittered. He shrugged, "Some of it is."

"No, I mean—

"I know what you mean." He was sincere. "We will never know the details about what happened between your grandfather and my father. All we can do is pick up the pieces and try to make it right. And that's what we're doing."

Kess nodded at her lap. "Gosh, I wish he would show up and explain all this."

"Maybe he will someday," Luke said. "But right now, I'm hoping he hasn't because he's spending all his energy secretly supporting Nik."

"That's right!" Kess gasped. "Nik can probably see him too! Maybe. But if he can. . ." And she breathed again, now with a big smile. "Thank you! I hadn't thought of that. I keep thinking Nik's alone but he's probably not alone at all!"

Luke kindly shook his head. "I'm hoping not. I've certainly put my vote into it for whatever level they listen to me."

She looked up to the ceiling. "It's okay Grandpa! You go do that! You can explain yourself to me later!"

Luke chuckled.

"Oh wow, I feel so much better."

"I'm glad."

She shifted her focus. "This meeting, though. It's about the thing?"

'The thing'. That was one of the terms getting thrown around a lot these days. Other terms were, 'the big date', and 'our next trip'. Though almost nobody knew the details, including the timetable or the destination, everyone seemed to know a full force advance was imminent.

"Yeah. And you and I are going to—" He stopped short and glanced around. "Has your place been scanned recently?"

"Yeah, yesterday."

"You and I are going to be the team to go get him. So, why don't I figure out how to get us in and out of there, and you figure out how to secure him and convince him to come with us."

Kess paled to realize what he meant. "You really think he's . . . . I can't imagine. . . ." She didn't want to say it aloud.

Luke was gentle about it. "I hoping not too, but we have to be prepared in case he is. He's probably drugged. They could be torturing him. You have to be prepared to find a man that has no resemblance to the brother you knew."

She let out a shaky sigh and covered her mouth with both palms.

"The good news is that they didn't get the rest of the family, because they would've used them against him. And they still might find ways to do that. They may have convinced him that they're dead—just to get him angry. They may be poisoning his mind with ideas that your family has hated him all along. With mind-altering drugs, it's possible they can make him believe anything. . . . _Your_ job is to find a way to yank him out of it."

She brainstormed. "Photocaps of Ben and Gina, maybe. Regale tales of when we were kids?"

"Have that stuff ready, sure, but do you have anything stronger? Something that only the two of you know? A memory that you both refer to often?"

Kess thought hard.

"Something about Obi Wan maybe? Maybe when the two of you starting thinking he was a Jedi? Or some training that he gave you that you now know was Jedi training?"

Her eyes flashed to him with an idea. She pulled the note out of her pocket . . . and launched off the couch. "Grandma's wedding locket."

Luke watched her go into the bedroom. "He'll remember it?"

"Oh yeah, he will. Grandma always wore it outside her clothes unless she was cooking." She stepped out and hooked it around her neck. She stepped to the couch and offered it in front of her to let him see it.

Luke fingered it with a grin. "I still regret not getting Aunt Beru's before I left." He smiled at the locket as he let it go, but his eyes saddened. "But I don't if I could've stomached it even if I thought about it at the time."

She stuffed the locket to hide under her tunic. She noted the bitter taste on the Force when he said that, so she opted to save her questions for another day.

He glanced up, coming back to the present, and climbed to his feet. "Let's get to this meeting."


	7. LL5 06 Strategy

Dozens of high-ranking officers gathered around the table with datapads, muttering to each other as they sat down, leaving the head chair empty. Kess never attended one of these before. At first, the instruction surprised her . . . until she remembered that her big brother was now posing as the Emperor. There were more caps of him on the vid lately, but always in the helmet and never speaking. She could only tell it was Nik by the way the figure stood, but it was hard to read his demeanor because the robe they always had him in padded shoulders, as if they were trying to make him look tougher and taller than he already was.

Of course they would, she thought. They had plans for him. That much was clear. Exactly what those plans were was not so clear. Kess hungered to learn the Alliance's strategy for action.

All conversation drifted to silence as Mon Mothma entered the room. Droids closed the doors behind her. She ushered Admiral Ackbar to get started while she was still sitting down at the head of the table.

He turned his head along the table and announced it to everyone, "The new A-wings have arrived. In nine days, the fighter fleet will be ready to launch for the rendezvous point at 84 percent of strength," he said. "The rest of our preparations will be done while in hyperspace to bring us to approximately 91 percent before the attack." He looked down the table at Madine.

At the queue, General Madine turned his body to the table to tell them all. "28 thousand troops are packed and ready to go. That's not including supplemental forces from our allies, which will bring us to 52 thousand troops at the rendezvous. But we only have enough drop transports to send down 41 thousand planetside."

"I'm on it," Leia said, and pulled over a datapad to type in some notes.

Admiral Sikey spoke now, referring to a datapad. "Accompanied by the allies, 26 galaxy-class fighter carriers. 12 battleships. 57 armed escorts. And 42 fleet aides."

Leia blurted, "That's it?"

Kess's eyes stretched back and forth. That sounded like _a lot_.

Admiral Sikey shrugged her fingers. "I couldn't get the Glagan System to roll. They've got another 10 battleships and two armed escorts that I didn't count. And I'm not also counting any help we may get from the Serra Arm systems."

Mon Mothma shook her head. "We're not getting help from the Serra Arm Systems. All we asked of them is to defend themselves and neutralize their local forces."

"Have you figured out how to coordinate the attack so the Serra Arm Systems are on the same timetable?"

Leia shook her head. "Not as yet."

This seemed to draw the table to a stiff silence for a moment.

The meeting continued with finer detail of the same. All the hard work was paying off. The Alliance was more ready than Kess had expected. The farthest timetable she heard was from Ackbar: nine days. She mentally planned for it, and whispered out another prayer at Nik to hang in there.

After a long while, the discussion shifted to the planning of the attack itself. She didn't understand much of it because she didn't have the Coruscant map memorized, but it was clear they had a plan to puncture the defenses with the fleet and immediately drop troops to the center of circular precincts covering half the horizon.

Naturally, they expected the Empire to rush in and protect the Temple and Senate Precincts. The council discussed at length ways to overlap their blanket of troops 'crookedly' onto that center of power in order to secure whole circles of Coruscant without too much resistance, yet still acquire key areas. General Rieekan listed off the strength of Imperial forces they expected to come up against. General Madine worked openly across the table how to neutralize and overwhelm each listed item.

While it sounded like everyone had a well-thought out answer to every question, the overall map of this battle sounded like a complete fiasco to Kess.

Mon Mothma referred to some notes as she absorbed everything so far, and lifted her head to a General Dodonna. "The lynchpin."

Kess blinked when she recognized him. She thought he retired.

Dodonna nodded. "I have verified my 'ace in the hole' is still valid." He eyed General Madine. "Plan for 30 minutes, but we should have the shield down in ten."

"Ten minutes is a long time in a battle of this magnitude," Admiral Ackbar warned.

Kess listened intensely. She realized they probably pulled Dodonna out of retirement for this last hoorah. If anyone possessing a key element of access to bring down the planetary shield around Coruscant, it would be someone who was deep into the rebellion back when this whole war started. They were saving this 'ace in the hole', whatever it was, for the right moment.

Dodonna gestured his focus down the table to Luke and Kess. "I'm sure I could do it faster if my team were awarded some Jedi assistance."

Mon Mothma shook her head. "They can advise beforehand, but they have a mission of their own during the battle."

Dodonna accepted that and eyed Madine, and then Ackbar. "Thirty minutes."

The group went silent to plan accordingly.

Mon Mothma turned her eyes to the two Jedi. "For the surgical part of this mission?"

Kess rubbed her lips.

In the chair beside her, Luke lowered his fingers to tap on the table. "He's going to be in the Palace, surrounded by lots and _lots_ of guards, and probably a Grand Moff or two. We're going to need a localized distraction, but I've got an idea on how to get in there without running into too much trouble. Once we do and we've got him face to face," he looked over and motioned to Kess.

She sat up but kept her hands clasped in her lap. "Nik's probably drugged, so I don't want to risk further harm by hitting him with a tranquilizer that might not mix well. Obviously I'll try to talk him down, but, if that doesn't work, I've got a family heirloom that will yank him out of it."

"What heirloom?" Mon Mothma queried.

Kess pulled the locket from under the collar of her tunic and showed it to them all. "This is my grandmother's wedding locket. Nik found it on her when he found her body after she died. He _also_ found a goodbye letter from grandpa that day, which—not incidentally—is the same letter Gina thought was from _him_ when he was kidnapped."

She looked Mon Mothma in the eye and continued, "That letter was a message to _me_. He was trying to tell me he was in trouble. Gina just didn't recognize it to call me right away. These lockets are unique, so Nik will know it's me even he's been blinded by drugs or the dark side. He hasn't seen it in a long time because I have it, but he knows this one. He _knows_ where this came from and what it represents. Even if he's so twisted up that he tries to hurt me, seeing this locket will make him pause."

Ackbar sounded unsure. "Are you willing to bet your life on that?"

Kess hardly needed to think before she looked Ackbar in the eye with confidence. "I am willing to bet my life on that. Yes."

Luke turned back to address Mon Mothma. "I'll be in there with her."

Mon Mothma nodded to that, but eyed Kess with an order. "Consider taking a tranquilizer anyway. I know it's risky, but if the locket doesn't work, sedating him is better than having to kill him."

Kess angled her head sideways to consider that truth and nodded agreement. "Yes, ma'am."

"And Vanech? Will be helpful at all? Is he trustworthy?"

Luke answered that carefully. "Not trustworthy enough to be helpful during the siege, but once I soften him up a little more, I'm going to see if I can get a layout of the Temple Precinct underworks out of him. For us _and_ for the troops." He gestured to Madine, who nodded honorably. "There probably aren't any easy paths for big troop movement, but saboteurs can get through to tricky places and take out planetary guns and communication towers."

"Oh, I like that," Han said with a smile.

Mon Mothma looked to him now. "General Solo?"

Han reported his own status. "I've got three teams of six ready to go. I already have a few paths mapped out but _that_ ," he pointed over at Luke, "will make this go a lot easier."

As Kess listened to the rest of the meeting in tense silence, she fingered the locket at her breastbone; rubbing it as if doing so would make Obi Wan Kenobi show up like a genie right here in this room and promise everything would be okay. He didn't, but having it around her neck now made her feel like he was closer.

Mon Mothma raised her face and wrapped it up. "Remind your teams that our goal is to secure, not destroy. We expect resistance from the general public. They have been under the thumb of the Empire and influenced by propaganda for a long while, and that's not their fault. The first step is to replace the thumb, but as soon as the fighting is over, we will gently lift it with an interactive government.

"I want every member of this rebellion to memorize this: 'We do this to give you a vote.' When accused of anything, from anyone, the answer is this." She tapped a hard fingertip on the table at each word. "We do this to give you a vote. . . . _We do this to give you a vote_. Our first order of business is to assemble a Galactic Senate. As it always has been. I want every 'rebel scum' out there to have those words memorized for use in every transaction between us and the Coruscant people. Flood them with it until they feel its truth." She paused to let that sink in, and then smiled, "Fortunately, ours is not propaganda."

When it was all over and the crowd dispersed in the busy halls outside, Kess dropped her shoulders against a wall with a tense huff, still rubbing the locket over her tunic collar.

Soon Luke settled his feet in front of her. He sighed briefly too. There were a lot of people walking back and forth in this hall, and more small groups collected for other conversations. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. When her eyes found him, his eyes were on the locket, but then they came back up to meet hers.

She dropped the locket to hang from her chest. "I wish we hadn't left him there."

"There was nothing we could've done."

Kess tried to grin.

Leia stepped up. "May I speak with you two for a minute?"

They both turned their attentions to her.

"In my office," Leia ordered and led the way.

Luke and Kess looked at each other. Eyebrows shrugged and they turned their feet to follow. Han joined them along the way. All four were silent until Leia closed her office door, but then she lit in like a lightning bolt.

"Tell me about Vanech."

Luke strolled between the twin couches and turned around to shrug at her. "I've got him meditating. I think he's coming back but it's going to take time. Why?"

"Because we need him to pull the Kein system in," Leia insisted. "Baron Flintob didn't have a clue what I was talking about."

Kess shrugged hard. "He wouldn't _let_ me go to Baron Flintob."

"How exactly?"

"He was using the Force. I told you that. Every time I tried to approach anyone in the Kein party I felt a hard twinge. And when I looked, he shook his head at me. It was Vanech himself who read the proposal and toasted with the rest of them. Petra seemed to accept that."

"If Petra thinks Vanech has the connections, then he does," Leia pointed out.

"Okay?" Kess shrugged her hands.

Leia flashed a polite smile to break it down for her. "Which is why I need to know if I can trust Vanech. At the moment," her eyes turned to Luke, "I don't."

Luke shook his head. "Nor should you. Not yet. Give me some time with him."

"Luke, we don't have time! We're leaving for this thing in nine days!"

"And we'll be in hyperspace and rendezvous for at least four days after that." Luke told her. " _We've got time._ "

"Can you turn him that fast?"

" _I don't know_." Luke stressed back, but he was smiling about it. "I will _try_."

Leia flopped her hands to her sides and paced to her desk.

Luke chortled and his voice rose to a laughing shout. "By the Force, you're worse than me! _Patience_!"

Leia crossed her arms at her chest and turned back, but she carried a little grin on her mouth now too. "Keep me posted."

"When have I stopped?"

Han shifted his eyes to Luke, "Can I use him on my team?"

Luke crossed his arms at his chest. "I don't if we can trust him that much that fast."

"I'm not asking if I can trust him. I'm asking if I can use him?"

Luke stared Han in the eye for a beat.

Leia expounded. "He's asking you as his Jedi Master."

Luke's eyes shifted with humor. "I understood that."

"So?" Han asked.

"Use him at your own risk," Luke finally said. "You've known him longer than I have. Maybe you can get through to him."

"We do this to give you a vote," Han quoted with a grin.

Luke smiled and shifted his feet to stroll a little. "I'm not sure that's what he wants."

Leia and Han exchanged glances and accepted that. Then Leia's eyes found Kess again. "How are you holding up?"

Kess shrugged hard. Her answer was a heavy sigh.

"How's your family?"

"Dad hates him." She thumbed over her shoulder at Luke. "And Gina's so pissed she won't let me get near Ben now."

"I'm so sorry," Leia was sincere.

"It's not your fault."

Luke explained to the other two. "Her father hinted that her mother was originally from Stewjon, which was where Obi Wan was from. I think she's the offspring of a brother or sister of Old Ben."

Han nodded. "It fits."

Leia agreed, "Explains a lot."

"But I still don't know who my father was."

"Well," Leia said, and grinned sympathetically, "I know how you feel."

Kess shared in the weak chuckle of it. "Yeah, I guess you would, huh?"

Leia strolled up to her. "Why don't you guys come over for dinner. Get a full meal in your stomachs . . . that _isn't_ out of the galley."

Kess was warmed by the invitation alone, especially since the invitation was directed specifically at Kess. "I'd like that." She added, "It'd be nice to be around a family that doesn't hate my boyfriend."

Han shook his hand in the air. "Oh no. Don't get us wrong. We hate him too. We just tolerate him because he's 'special'."

Luke cringed. "Thanks."

"All right. Get out." Leia waved them all off. "I've got work to do."

They all moved. Leia watched Luke and Kess leave together. The two chatted briefly about where each was headed next. Others were milling about out there to come talk to Leia next but, for the moment her office doors were still open for the transfer of meetings, Leia focused on the couple in the hall.

Kess murmured something secretly by Luke's shoulder. Her eyes shined devious as she turned to go. Luke's feet stopped short at whatever she said, and his eyes shifted with a grinning evil to watch Kess leave in the other direction. He watched her go with a hidden expression that Leia never expected to see on Luke's face.

She found a similar expression on Han's face every once in a while, but when it was from Han, it was usually accompanied by a secret threat. 'You keep that up I'm going to jump you right now.'

Her own Force Empathy skill was still in the novice stages, but Luke swelled with such a strong cloud of that Leia didn't need much skill to detect it. Of course, she knew it already, but she hadn't witnessed such proof until today. Luke was madly in love.

As Han was leaving too, Admiral Ackbar came in, "We need to come up with something for this signal, Minister."

Leia lifted her chin. "Han, wait."

Han glanced back. At her gesture, he closed the door with him and Admiral Ackbar still inside.

Han set his hands on his hips as he turned. "What's up?"

She looked at Ackbar and then Han, and considered it another long moment before she grinned with mischief. "I have an idea."


	8. LL5 07 Untold Story

Commander Antilles was just finishing up a huddle with the pilots in the muster room when Kess came in. The door was open so she let herself in and waited by the wall. She considered if this conversation was going to be more heartbreaking than talking with her father. She tried to put her hands in her pockets until she remembered she wasn't wearing her flight suit, so she just crossed them at her chest instead.

One by one, the pilots filed out through the door beside her in a long procession of high fives and 'good to have you back'. Kess didn't have the heart to correct them.

At the end of it all, Wedge strolled up to her too, but he was far less enthusiastic. His head hung to one side with the knowing grin that he was about to get the bad news. He waited until all the others were gone before he stopped his feet with disappointment. "You're not in uniform."

Kess bounced her shoulder blades shyly against the wall. "No, I'm not."

Wedge rolled his head on his neck and looked away for a minute.

Kess strolled over to close most of the distance.

His eyes found her again. "He told you on the trip?"

"I made him," Kess defended. "I was dying of curiosity by then."

He flattened his mouth and nodded with regret.

" _I would have_ ," Kess insisted. "But this thing with my brother, and—

"No, I get it." Wedge stopped her. He shook his head and sighed again. "I get it. You've got things to do."

"You need somebody who's going to be here all the time," she instructed.

"Yeah." Wedge eyed her a long moment and his lips worked with another difficult sigh. "Yeah," he was quiet.

"I'm sorry," she offered.

"I know," he was suddenly awake again, taking this in stride, and grinned friendly. "Don't worry about it."

Kess worried anyway.

Wedge grinned anew. "But I'm gonna call you from time to time because I don't have anyone on my crew that knows how to fix a hangover."

They shared a shy laugh over that.

"Can I ask you a favor though?" She queried.

His eyes smiled.

"Artoo needs some very special repair because of something I did. I need your tools. Can I borrow your Pad after hours to take care of him?"

"Of course." Wedge cringed, "He's assigned to Rogue Group, isn't he? When do you want to do it?"

"After I get the parts. Tomorrow night? Maybe the day after?"

"Let me know." He shrugged and looked at the floor.

Kess could sense it. "What?"

He squinted sideways at her. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure. What?"

"It's none of my business but . . ." he squinted harder. "Is he treating you right?"

"Who, Luke?"

Wedge chuckled. "Who else would I be talking about?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"Bullshit," she scolded. "You wouldn't be asking if you didn't have a reason."

Wedge flattened his mouth, but he seemed to know he wasn't going to get out of it. He set his boot on a chair and dropped both elbows to rest on his knee. "It's just that you're training's been done for what? A month? Month and a half? And no one knows? Not even a decent homecoming when he came back from that last thing? The only people who know you're together are the few of us who guessed it beforehand. . . . Tell me this: if I hadn't kicked you out of the party that night, would have gone to go see him on your own?"

Kess chewed on her tongue. "Probably not," but she chuckled at it. "He trained me too well for that part."

"So _nothing_? That _entire_ time?"

"Well," she flushed, "Not entirely nothing. But it was nothing _enough_ , if that makes any sense."

"Yeah, it does." Wedge wiped his forehead with the heal of his palm. "He is as dumb as a stone sometimes."

"Relax, Wedge. I've got this."

"You sure? You want me to talk some sense into him?"

"No. He's fine. We've got family complications going on right now that take higher precedence. That's all."

"Yeah, I guess so." But he came back with fervor and stood on both feet. "But if you need someone to knock him in the head, I'm first in line."

Kess turned to go with a smile. "Sounds like there's more to that story."

Wedge walked out with her. "Not denying it, but some stories are better left untold."

With that, he grinned goodbye and turned away to other pressing business.

Kess watched him go. _Are they though?_ She wondered. Kess decided she had suffered too many untold stories already. What she couldn't decide was, for this one, would she hound Wedge about it, or Luke? Either way, this one was low priority compared to everything else, so she set it on the backburner for another time.

Kayla skipped up to her then, carrying a compression unit in her gloved hands. "Hey, girly girl."

"Hey." Wedge and Kayla, she thought. Kess cocked her head to remember a piece of history she'd forgotten. She jerked her head at the pilot now in the distance behind her. "You okay working with him?"

"Who? Wedge?"

"Aren't you supposed to call him Commander now?"

"Well, yeah, but only when it matters." Kayla handed her the unit and Kess took it.

She looked the compression unit over out of habit. "Okay, but I didn't think to ask about it before I suggested your transfer here."

"I wouldn't've taken it if I thought he was hoping for a repeat." Kayla shrugged, "Come on. It was two weeks three years ago. Water under the bridge."

"I don't really understand that term," Kess grinned, "But okay."

"Besides," Kayla continued. "You think he would've asked for my permission to date you if he still harbored anything about it?"

Kess glanced up. "What do you mean?"

Kayla shrugged. "Couple months back. South Base Warehouse? When you got drunk and sliced shit up with your lightsaber?"

"I thought you _told_ him to ask me out."

"No." Kayla reared back. "He asked me if I'd feel weird about it. Shipmate respect. I said, 'no I didn't'. Why?"

Kess's jaw was on the floor.

" _Why_?"

"I think I just figured out an untold story. That's all."

"What story?"

"Nevermind." She lifted the unit up. "Why did you hand this thing to me?"

"So it's looks like we're working," Kayla giggled.

Kess curled over and snickered hard. Kayla laughed harder too.

"Yo!" Wedge shouted from the ladder of Rogue Eight. He pointed hard at the two of them (though a grin was in his eyes.) "Either throw on a flight suit and get to work, or get out of here so my Repair Sup can!"

"Aye sir!" Kess handed the unit back to Kayla, they shared a giddy smile, and Kess turned away.

Kess strolled to leave Pad 14 in a little daze. So. Once upon a time Wedge asked Kayla and then Luke for permission to ask her out. Looking back on her early days in Rogue Group, she could've seen that coming, although she hadn't guessed it at the time. Now Wedge was worried Luke wasn't treating her right.

He cared.

It made her feel good.

But Wedge was right, this was a story best left untold.

 _"LENDRA!"_ It was more of a stress than an angry shout, complete with cupped hands around the mouth that shouted it. Han was sitting on the edge of the _Falcon's_ port mandible and apparently had shouted her name several times before she heard it.

Kess strolled over. "What's up?"

Han locked his elbows beside him and squinted, "How come you're not helping Luke with Vanech right now?"

Kess stood below him on the deck and shrugged. "I do when he needs me. He's having more success with Vanech when I'm out of the way."

Han nodded thoughtfully. "Whatchya doin'?"

"I was about to head over to supply. Why, do you need something?"

Chewie rattled off a long sentence from further afar the top of the ship. Kess couldn't see him, but she could hear him. (She didn't understand him.)

Han glanced but he didn't answer. Instead, he flattened his mouth at Kess with difficulty.

Kess could sense the conflict. She was about to ask what was wrong when Han began to climb to his feet and motioned her to the ramp. "You got a minute?"

The three of them gathered in the main bay. Han fell back in the engineering chair, rubbing his eyes while Chewie pulled over pair of datalinks and handed her one.

As Kess looked to find he hadn't typed anything yet, Han rolled his head back upright and blurted it. "We need help."

Kess was careful. She said nothing at first; she just listened.

"We've got a lot to fix in short time and not enough hands. I don't want to pull Ashten's crew because they've got enough to do out there."

"Did he put you up to this?" She accused.

Han blinked. "Who?"

"Luke."

He rattled his head. "No."

Kess sensed out for deceit, but it wasn't there. Han was actually, honestly, asking for help.

Han sat up, "I know he's got you doing Jedi things but if you have time I've got some ideas how to use you so it doesn't pull you away too much from your sorcery stuff."

Kess settled evenly on her feet. "I'm listening."

Han pulled a list from the top of his head of all the things he wanted to fix before they left again. The plan was simple. They wanted to give her a list of independent repairs to work on _when_ she had the chance to work on them so she could schedule the effort around whatever Luke had her doing in the 'Jedi arena'. She'd already been elbow deep in half of these items so she didn't need supervision to get it done anyway, but when Chewie mentioned that, Han added that any supervision was only to explain some of the 'special modifications' so Kess didn't accidentally rewire things correctly when they weren't supposed to be correct in the first place.

Kess listened at length and questioned where appropriate, but the whole time she squinted with distrust that all this was too good to be true.

In the end, Han shrugged that he would, "of course," pay her for it. Kess shifted her chin and gestured with the datalink. "Are you sure Luke didn't put to this?"

Han smiled then, shaking his head at his lap as he sat up. "No. I'm sure Luke didn't put me up to this." He stood and grinned over her. "But my wife won't shut up about it, if you must know."

"Ah."

"Look, we need all the help we can get to be ready for this thing," he admitted humbly.

Kess shifted her boots for the door. "Let me run to supply," she grinned and handed the datalink back to Chewie, "and I'll go home and grab my flight suit."

Han grinned and nodded.

Kess was practically skipping on her way back to the barracks and gladly stepped into her old uniform. She couldn't wear the Lieutenant's dots though, and it she grinned with lament to pluck them off the collar. And yet, when she pulled off Grandma's old wedding locket too, she paused . . . and put the leather necklace back on. It already felt like a good luck charm, so she opted to wear it until this whole mess was over.

Upon return to the _Falcon_ , she brought back a special gift: a T10-38 unit, and presented it in the corridor where Han was working. "I think I'll start with this."

Han laughed, nodded, and gestured his hand tool for her to carry on.


	9. LL5 08 Family

Han opened the door and immediately insisted no one discuss politics or military operations tonight. Luke and Kess gladly agreed. Leia was under a lot of stress; more so than everyone else. She seemed to feel that holding the lump of her belly kept the stress from bleeding into the baby, but they all knew that wasn't true.

As Threepio set out dinner on the square table, Han stopped Leia by the shoulders, kissed her on the forehead, and ordered, "Stop working now."

With a sigh, she acquiesced. Leia put her datapad down on an end table and stepped over to sit down for dinner.

But Luke stopped her next. "Can I try something?" He hovered his palm politely in front of her body.

Leia stopped her feet and nodded. She took her hand away from her belly so Luke could put his palm on it instead. Kess watched him close his eyes and concentrate for a moment. Soon, Leia's shoulders drooped.

When it was over, Luke pulled his hand away and gave her a grinning scold. "You need to meditate more often." He moved to the chair around the corner from Kess and sat down.

"I know." Leia groaned and moved to a chair too. "I don't have time right now."

Han whined as he sat down. "You never have time! That's the problem!"

Luke nearly laughed, comically widening his eyes. "Is that _Han_? Promoting _meditation_?"

"Well, now, wait a second—

Leia laughed freely. "He's got you there!"

Han continued to defend. "That's not what I said."

"I heard it," Leia teased him, picking up her water glass. She eyed Kess. "Did you hear it?"

Kess smiled at all this. "Yeah, I heard it."

Han drooped his head from his shoulders.

Luke assured the man, "Your secret's safe with us."

They dismissed Threepio and food got passed around like any regular home. Han began the conversation with a gesturing index finger. "Now, I know I said no business, but—

Leia rolled her eyes as she filled her plate.

Luke scoffed at the man. "No. Don't. If you do it, she's going to do it too. Don't open that door."

Han gestured his palm now. " _But_ this isn't exactly business. This is more like . . . family. Kind of."

Leia was in good humor. "Yes, well. The lines between them are growing blurry these days."

Luke talked over his bite. "Just spit it out."

Han narrowed his eyes directly across the table at Kess. He took in a deep breath and blurted it. "Artoo."

Kess opened her mouth—

Luke rolled his head on his neck. "Oh, leave her alone."

Han shrugged both hands.

"We gave her a hard enough time about it on the trip," Luke complained.

Kess lifted her brows over at Luke. "You mind if I answer the man myself?"

Luke blinked.

Kess turned to face Han down across the table and took a fast sigh before she began. "I got the chip today. Wedge is going to let me use Rogue Group tools to install it after hours. We need a static mat and all the grounding equipment—

Luke's brows went into his forehead. "You're already on it?"

Now Kess shrugged both hands and squeaked back at him. "Of course I'm already on it! It's _Artoo_!"

Luke blinked back and settled in his chair with an open mouth. He looked at Leia across the table who in turn eyed him back. Her grin was deep, quiet, and secret as she cut out a bite.

Kess turned back to Han and finished. "So, yeah, the chip, the grounding equipment. And Rogue Group has an astromech diag we can use to test him with." She looked to Leia. "It'll help if we could have Threepio there too, to make sure his memory is intact."

Leia shrugged easy. "Say the word."

"I understand they were wiped together last time?"

Luke nodded. "That's what Threepio said. I don't think I ever asked Artoo before."

"Well, that's good. Then Threepio can spot check to make sure everything is still there." Kess finally turned her attention to her food and started cutting up a bite. "Not that we can really do anything about it if it isn't, but at least we'll know what he's missing."

Leia squinted. "What's the risk exactly?"

"If he got even the slightest zap when we removed his memory, or when we reinstall it, we could fry bits of those chips. The only time you want to remove memory chips on a droid is when you want to wipe it."

"We weren't grounded when we took them out," Luke noted with concern.

"We were a little." Kess told him. "I have one wired into my combat boots for that very reason."

"But I'm the one that took out his chips."

"But you were also connected to _me_ ," she pointed out.

His tongue went into his molar. "Oh yeah, huh."

Kess chuckled at him. "If you think I didn't take every precaution on that boy, then you _really_ underestimate how much I love you."

Luke's eyes shifted to her at that. He grinned harder, flushed a little, and turned his eyes down to his plate.

Kess rolled her eyes at him and found Han staring at her. The other man was lounged back in his chair with head cocked and one elbow on the armrest.

"What?" She smacked. "It's not like it's a secret!"

Han shrugged his hand, "Hey, I didn't say anything."

Leia added with a chuckle, "Certainly not a well-kept one."

Kess scratched her ear, suddenly embarrassed for having said it.

"Relax," Leia assured her softly. "Han and I figured it out before the two of you did."

"Oh? I'm not even sure when we figured it out," Kess murmured.

Han crooned a new smile. "I'll tell you when _I_ figured it out." This got everyone's attention. "'A pretty Vader'." And he threw his head back with a hard laugh.

Luke dropped his eyes into his palms and cussed under his breath.

"What? When did that happen?" Kess crooned.

Leia set her elbows on the table and motioned across to her brother. "On the Frakkan system. When we figured out you were this Usak thing they were after," Leia smiled to retell it. "Somehow we got onto this comparison if they turned you to the dark side, and Han said, 'But she'd be awfully short for a Darth Vader.'" And Leia began to laugh so much that Han finished for her.

He thumbed at Luke, "Then this one says, 'But she'd be a pretty one!'"

Han and Leia both laughed freely at it. Luke was now rubbing his eyeballs with both sets of fingers but his shy smile was obvious. Kess was entirely complimented, and it seemed the icing on the cake that this group, herself included, could laugh so easily when Vader was referenced. She teased just to have something to say. "Guess I was the last to know, huh?"

Luke brought down his hands and shrugged them. "I had my reasons."

Kess nodded at her food and cut another bite.

"But you weren't." He said, eyeing her as he picked up his glass. "If you think about it."

Kess stared at the air for a beat, stared at the memories, and sipped her water with a soft grin. "Yeah, I guess not."

Leia eyed Luke, "When are you going to let Wubak in on it?"

She didn't mean Wubak specifically, but the Newsnets in general: the public. It mattered.

"No politics," Han barked at his plate.

Leia set her elbow on the table and gestured. Her smile was sly. "This isn't politics, this is about family."

Han rolled his eyes and shook his head. He stuffed a bite into his mouth.

Leia's brown eyes smiled across the table at her brother. "It doesn't have to be a formal announcement."

Kess began to wonder if she had any vote in this matter, but she realized all Leia's questions were directed at Luke only because he was the most reticent of the two. Now that Kess opened her senses for it, Leia was paying just as much attention to her reaction as she was watching for Luke's.

Luke hiked a smiling whine, "What do you want me to do? Make out with her at a restaurant?"

Now it was Kess's turn to hide her eyes in her fingers.

Han spread a palm to the side and announced it with flare, "And for our next segment, _Jedi porn_!"

All four of them spit out a tight flushing laughter.

Han scratched the top of his head. "It'd make for some good vid watching at least."

Leia tried to guide the topic back, "I just want to be careful with the timing of it."

Han talked with his mouthful. "Leia's fantasizing how many Imperials we can distract with a juicy vid clip."

Luke put down his fork. "A vid clip of _what_?"

Han looked at Luke with hand-shrug, "Well, we could resolve this whole thing by just pulling the security camera from the circuitry bay."

Luke's hands paused mid-bite. His eyes bulged to globes. Kess buried her face further and cussed a screaming whisper.

Leia didn't need expert Force skill to detect that splash of panic. The hard, guilty warning on Luke's face was classic.

Han just stared down 'Junior' with a lifted brow of daring and held it with confidence.

Luke lowered his chin and stared from under his eyebrows. "You don't have a camera in the circuitry bay."

Han angled his head, fighting a dirty grin, and turned smug eyes to Kess.

Luke slapped down his fork. " _Say that you don't have a camera in the circuitry ba_ y _!_ "

Leia found herself laughing so hard she had to turn away from her meal and curl over in to her own lap to contain it.

"Of course not," Han rolled his head on his neck. "But now I wish I had."

Luke scoffed and began to breathe again.

Kess found Leia's eyes peeking through her snicker at her.

Flushing more, Kess murmured an attempt at defense. " _Told_ you it was a bad idea."

Han pointed hard at Luke and flashed at Kess. "It was _his_ idea?!"

Luke crooned back at him. "It's not like _you_ haven't done it!"

Han shrugged comically, "Well, no. I'm just proud of you, that's all."

Leia watched from behind her fingers, trying not to laugh and flush herself. Han was poking the topic only to break the ice about it. Luke rolled his eyes and grinned with embarrassment. He wasn't as uncomfortable as Leia expected, but the discomfort was palpable. And Kess was hiding behind both full palms.

Perhaps the couple wasn't yet ready for this. If they made any public release, either formally or 'accidentally', Leia knew what the first question would be, and the public would ask it over and over until they got an answer. Leia accepted that sex in the circuitry bay didn't mean wedding bells were ringing, but it certainly had the reputation as a step in the right direction.

Kess put her hands in her lap and stared only at her food. She tried not to giggle when she pleaded, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Politics!" Leia smiled with a flare.

"No politics!" Han shouted back a smile and returned to his food.

"How about Obi Wan?" Leia asked. She looked around the table for consensus. This seemed to ease Luke and Kess both. She opened her senses for their reaction to this topic and eyed Kess politely, "May I take a closer look at that locket?"

Kess put her fork down and fished it out. "Sure." She unhooked it from her head and handed it over.

Han squinted at it as it passed from Kess to Leia. "That's a wedding locket?" His face twisted at the simplicity and quaintness of the thumb-sized teardrop.

Kess shrugged it off. "It's a Tatooine thing. They're hand-made out of bone so that no two are alike. The detail of the carving is supposed to represent the dedication of the suitor."

"It's beautiful." Leia smiled wistfully as she looked it over. She lifted it with a squinting smile. "Obi Wan made this?"

Kess shrugged comically, "That's what was implied."

Leia handed it to Han for a look and watched Luke secretly eye the thing as it passed from hand to hand. Her brother pretended not to think about the symbolism of it as he cut out another bite, but a moment later, awestruck eyes hovering at the air gave him away.

Leia smiled bigger.

And before they caught her at her revelation, she turned the chatty topic back to Kess. "What was your grandmother's name?"

Kess wrapped the necklace back over her head and grinned sneaky. "Wanna take a wild guess?"

Han didn't need to think. "Kesselia Kenobi."

Kess pointed. "Bingo."

"What was she like?" Luke asked.

Kess thought about that and smiled it out. "She was like . . . she was like _him_. Tea drinking, book reading, grumbled every time the Empire was on the news. . . . And now I don't even know if she was my grandmother. This is so weird."

"Well. If they named you after her," Leia noted, "that has to mean something."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kess was uncomfortable.

"Y'know what I think?" Han started—

But Leia interrupted him. "Y'know what I think?" (They needed to shift topics before the other two clammed up.) She stressed it with all seriousness as if she was ordering an attack. "I think it's time for cheesecake."

Han got up to get it just so Leia wouldn't call Threepio back out, and the two of them launched into a friendly argument about using 'Goldenrod' for his designed duties versus the incredible need to tune down the droid's babbling while he did them.

The cheesecake was gorgeous, with berries and fruit drizzle across the top, but Leia fetched a jar of hot fudge too. She distracted them with her own pointless babble about where to get good cheesecake, what were the best flavors, and stood over Kess's shoulder to pour the hot fudge over her little slice because it was an 'essential ingredient'. She noted how Luke and Kess both eyed her as if she was up to something, but she covered it well. She _was_ up to something.

Though the woman hid it well, Leia noticed Kess was still reserved with a few extra Ps and Qs about being a guest amongst them. After the disastrous way they treated her at the last dinner, Kess earned that right. But now Leia was determined to make up for it. Luke may not have yet decided it yet, but Leia did. It was time to start convincing Kesselia Kenobi Lendra she was one of the family.

Leia kept the chatting on lighthearted topics, soon asking for Kess to regale tales about Obi Wan's secret Jedi training of her and Nik. She watched Kess brighten with ease to talk about a younger Obi Wan training a nine and a seven-year-old how to defend themselves in fistfights at school. When she explained how Nik complained that Grandpa wouldn't teach him how to punch, Kess darkened her voice to imitate. "Now, now, lad. Use these skill only for defense,"

And Luke chimed in with her, "Never attack."

The couple shared a laugh and launched into smiling antics about their similar memories of the man.

Leia and Han shared devious eyes. Han already knew what she was up to, and secretly nodded in agreement.


	10. LL5 09 Connection

Nik had his own giant, glass-top table for himself. He stared blankly at the blurred image of the room and faraway windows of the balcony while the droids poured his morning water glass and fruit juice. Eye-Two had just finished the first morning horror, so Nik was trying to remember what he was supposed to be thinking.

All he knew was that it wasn't anything about being Darth Tovecus or passion, or victory . . . He glanced around for an idea. All that Tovecus business seemed to be right, but he knew it wasn't right. Yet how could he convince himself it was wrong unless he remembered what was right?

His eyes returned to the glass table and saw the shape of the distant window reflecting as in a shining rectangle. With familiarity, he looked to the balcony, or what he could see of it from here, and he squinted at the slice of daylight over the edge of it. The sun glowed into the dark suite as if showing him the way home.

Home?

N5 placed a gold-trimmed plate of breakfast on the tablemat in front of him and Nik immediately stabbed for a tasteless bite. He wasn't used to this food. It was too bland. He wanted spicy. He wanted richness. He wanted . . . .

"Cheesecake."

N4 angled over. "I beg your pardon, my lord? What is 'cheesecake'?"

Nik angled back to look at the silver protocol like he'd fried a chip. "You don't know what cheesecake is?"

N4 shook his head. "I'm sorry, my lord. I'm not programmed for that particular item."

"Well, _get_ programmed with it!" Nik spat. He knocked the base of his fork against the glass table with a childish thud. "Your emperor wants cheesecake! Figure it out!"

This had Nik grinning at himself, but he immediately forgave himself for it too. He resumed eating this tasteless food without pause. If cheesecake got him through this mess, what's the harm?

He remembered when mom brought home a cheesecake from a vendor she found in the street. He grinned at the memory. It was tasty, but there was something in it that made Kay Kay throw up for a half an hour—

 _Kay Kay_. He thought, and he chewed as he gazed out through that window in more thought.

 _Kay Kay's my little sister. That's right. My name is Nikolai Lendra. Not Darth Tovecus. I remember now_. . . . And he grinned a little more. _Grandpa taught me how to meditate last night. That must be why I feel so good today._ He stabbed at a new bite and smiled at himself.

Nik considered this as a strategy. If he could train his mind to come back with a mere glimpse of the sunlight, then he could lean into everything Jakobi and the droids tried to throw at him. They were trying to brainwash him into this; therefore, the more he acted brainwashed, the less they would work him over. Additionally, using Grandpa's meditation trick further refreshed his soul so that he had the mental energy to fight it. This was a good day, for now Nik had a plan.

* * *

As Luke drove them away from Leia and Han's place, Kess gazed out at that sidewalk cutting through the trees where she had quit her training months ago. The family dinner was an enjoyable break, but she made herself accept that she was just as worn out and stressed today as she was back then. Her worries kept drifting back to Nik. She needed to meditate. She needed some hard sleep. She vaguely remembered whispering a suggestive comment to Luke earlier, but that was hours ago. Now, she was too exhausted for any of it.

But she didn't have time to be tired. They were leaving—forever—for the biggest challenge they ever faced, in nine days.

Luke pulled up to the curb outside her barracks and parked. Kess wasn't sure if he forgot her earlier suggestion, detected how tired she was, or was just keeping up with appearances again. She looked over. Several troops were lounging on the entrance steps, chatting lively.

Luke looked darkly at the troops before looking passively over at her.

Kess wondered why it didn't bother her anymore. Family knew. Friends knew. That was all that really mattered. Letting the Newsnets know was all political and nothing personal, and it came with the added hassle of receiving questions from strangers that were nobody's business. Kess wasn't sure if she was ready for that either.

The idea of it shifted her mind back to memory, when she herself watched Luke on the Newsnets for so many years. She was hungry for hints of his personal life. She wanted to claim it was only because she was curious how the new Jedi lived, but she knew that wasn't true. The Big Hero influenced her, and so she cared about his well-being, even though she'd never met him. The tabloid covers with the two of them in training wouldn't have sold so well if the general public didn't care. The grapevine wouldn't have whispered about them so widely if the troops weren't interested. Letting the public know would create an immense distraction, and they needed to focus on other things right now. Kess accepted that this public announcement, however it happened, was better to wait until after this colossal mission.

"I owe you an apology," she said, watching that small crew of strangers trying to pretend not to watch them back.

His face cringed mildly at her. "For what?"

"Being part of your fan market." She said, unsure how to word it. "For eight years I was one of the fools that wouldn't let you have a private life. Now I'm seeing it from the other side . . ." she looked him in the eye, "I'm sorry about that."

Luke shrugged one shoulder and searched for something to say.

" _You_ get to choose . . . when. And how." She told him. "And take all the time you need."

"Wow. Where did you get this patience?" He sighed and grinned anew, "I know you didn't get it from me."

Kess smiled back as she climbed out of the speeder. "Where do you think?"


	11. LL5 10 EIGHT — Breakthrough

This time, Luke stayed in the clearing with Vanech and meditated with him. At least, he pretended to. Luke sat on the ground with his back against the log whereas Vanech was on the blanket several meters further in the clearing. It seemed to give the man enough bubble of space so that he'd be _willing_ to close his eyes. He was too alert when anyone else was within arm's reach.

But Luke wasn't really meditating; he was observing with his mind. Vanech's Empathy block was like a muscle in permanent spasm, always flexed from the need to block people from getting in. Luke wondered if someone had been using the Force all his life to cause such a reaction. Perhaps it was just Vanech's natural defenses overflowing into his innate abilities. Luke wasn't sure, but it was one of the things for which he was passively observing.

After a half an hour of struggle, Vanech began to drift and the block began to fall away, but the man caught it and quickly yanked it back up with a grunt. "I can't do this."

Luke opened his eyes but his expression didn't change.

Vanech dropped an elbow on his folded knee and bitched. "Why are you doing this?"

"You helped us, I'm helping you." It was as simple as that.

"I don't even like you," Vanech hissed.

Luke grinned and shrugged. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Vanech flattened his mouth and looked away. Now both elbows dropped to both knees in an angry slump. He pushed to get up. "We're done."

Luke shrugged an eyebrow. "Alright. When I'm done meditating, I'll take you back." He wasn't going to meditate though. That wasn't his reason for being here.

"No." Vanech cowered over him with an order. "You're going to take me back _now_."

"No." Luke said it firmly. "I'm going to take you back when I'm done." And he stared back up at the other man until Vanech accepted it.

Vanech turned away and paced to the back of the clearing, cussing at himself. "What the fuck am I doing here?"

"Running," Luke said, and closed his eyes again. "It's too bad it followed you."

"What?"

Luke poked an index finger at the man without opening his eyes. "Whatever that was that almost seeped out. You came here thinking you were going to leave it behind on Coruscant. But you brought it with you. And you don't want to meditate because you know you're going to have to face it."

Vanech hitched a sick smile and paced some more. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Not the details, no." Luke peeked one eye open. "But do you think I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't already been there myself?"

The man didn't answer. He just stared at Luke like he was studying him. Luke stared back for a long minute.

Then he shrugged his brows again. "I'm not asking anything out of you, Zach. But you've been through hell, and you're in hell now, and I think you came to Yavin because you know I'm the only one who can help you get out of it."

Vanech angled his chin away and paced harder now. "My hell keeps me warm at night. It doesn't need to be fixed."

"If that were true, you wouldn't've come." Luke closed his eyes again.

Vanech stomped over and shouted. "You quit trying to psychoanalyze me! It's none of your damn business!"

Luke shifted hard eyes up to meet him. "No? Then what are you doing out here?"

"I'm asking myself the same question." Vanech paced away again.

Luke watched him for a beat. He folded his own legs in and dropped his elbows to his knees. "Can I ask you something?"

Vanech stopped and stared at the wall of jungle with his hands on his hips. He didn't answer.

Luke asked anyway, "What did Kess say to you that turned you around?"

Vanech glanced back.

But Luke kept the gaze. He knew it. He knew it wasn't something _he_ said. Maybe the guys pushed Vanech over the edge to capitulate toward the end, but Kess must have said something to bring him most of the way before they got back from the party.

Vanech's mouth was parted now, and he closed again, licking his lips with difficulty. "It doesn't matter." He flopped back down onto the blanket and crossed his legs again. "Ask her."

"I'm asking you."

The man shook his head again, but his eyes were darker now, sadder. "It's never enough. You never . . . 'quench' it. That's what she said."

Luke nodded at his lap. "She's been there."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It's true." Luke lifted his brows. "I was there when it happened."

Vanech challenged, "And you didn't slice her in half for it?"

"Why should I? I'd much rather bring her back. Just like I'd rather bring you back."

Vanech flattened his mouth again at this idiocy.

Luke shrugged his hand and grinned. "We don't have to be friends. You don't have to like me. But I don't mind putting effort into bringing you back so that I don't have to worry about you being an enemy that I might _have_ to slice in half later."

Vanech smiled at the challenge. "You really think you could?"

"Oh, I _know_ I could." Luke said without hesitation, but he angled his head. "But I'd rather not."

They stared each other down again until Vanech accepted that Luke's words were true.

The man shifted, angling his posture with a thought. He peeked over. "What happened to her?"

Luke considered his right to tell him and decided that Kess would be okay with a vague explanation under the circumstances. "She . . . grew frustrated. With men. And I mean really, _really_ frustrated." He lifted his eyes and crossed his arms at his chest. "And righteously so; she was in love and wasn't getting any back. And yet she couldn't get away from him enough to let him go."

"How'd you get her to come back?"

Luke grinned to admit the truth of it. "Well, I quit being an ass and finally told her I loved her too."

"Isn't that 'feeding' it?"

"Yes and no," Luke sighed to think about it. "She wouldn't have gotten that frustrated if she wasn't already sensing it from me. She just didn't want to believe her instincts."

"Sounds too simple."

Luke admitted with a bold grin. "I'm simplifying it on purpose because it's none of your business."

Vanech seemed humored by that. "How the fuck did she ever fall for you in the first place?"

To this Luke, flashed a laugh, "I have no idea."

Vanech widened his eyes with a flare of agreement and shook his head away. "That trick's not going to work for me."

Luke lifted a knee so he could rest an elbow on it. "Did she know you loved her?" He wasn't sure if this was the case, but it was a good enough guess.

Vanech flashed back with an angry glare. "None of your business."

Luke could only grin that he guessed it right, but he sobered too. "And she's gone now?"

Vanech's face pinched shut. He whispered away, "Get the fuck out of my head."

"I'm not in your head." Luke said respectfully. "Do you really think Kess and I wouldn't recognize all this if she and I hadn't been through it ourselves?"

Vanech squinted at him. "You're the only ones who've detected it."

Luke shrugged his hand and scoffed. "She and I have a few more skills than other people."

"Fuck you," Vanech murmured.

Luke continued to grin. "I'm wondering what you're old Jedi Master would say to you right now. I'm sure you had one. And I'm sure he or she was strict and stoic, always talking you down from your anger, always trying to yank you back into the fold. Even at six." He rubbed his lips and shook his head. "I can't imagine what you've been through, man."

Vanech didn't meet his eyes that time. He just stared at the blanket. His jaw rippled under his cheek.

Luke pressed a sad grin and whispered, "Anyway." Slowly, he pushed himself up from the ground. "I'm gonna go meditate over there for a little while and," he climbed over the log and stepped slowly away. "See if I can think up new ways to annoy you."

Luke kept his back to him, but he could sense the spike of humor and the dismissive sigh afterwards from Vanech, and he knew he got through. He was starting to sense it now, really sense it. Vanech was in pain. Luke was hardly out of the clearing when that solid wall in Zach's soul began to come down, and he could feel it as acutely as if the pain was in his own heart. Vanech was suffering lots and lots of pain, old and new, hidden and clear, vague and sharp. There were so many layers to it Vanech's Force Print looked like a bitter purple baklava.

Luke strolled to his speeder parked in the dirt road and sat on the hood to wait this out. He didn't need to close his eyes to sense what Vanech was up to, to know that Vanech was—for a moment—just letting it all hurt. Luke remembered back when Kess fell apart on Dagobah. He remembered when he was crying over her death right here in this clearing. Vanech was different, obviously, but the method was the same. Vanech needed a safe place for it all to bleed out, just like Kess had, just like Luke had. And for what microscopic amount the man allowed himself his weakness today, Luke was glad to have helped provide this stranger the opportunity so he could work his way through a little bit of it.


	12. LL5 11 Planning

Luke managed use of a small holomap in the corner of the CIC bunker and brought up the frame of the Imperial Palace.

Kess stood next to him and watched the lines draw the massive building to a three-dimensional image. The exterior pyramid of it was clear and detailed, but the insides lit up only partial detail of the entrance lobby and a few meeting rooms. She waited for the rest, but nothing else came up.

"That's it?" Widened eyes turned to him. "That's all we've got?"

Luke nodded reluctantly. "The worst part is that this information is already ten years old. The interior could be entirely remodeled by now."

"Can't Vanech help us a little bit?"

He shook his head, "He's never seen the inside. And because of that shield, we're going to have to go through the front door."

Her shoulders slumped. Her eyes stared at the empty space inside the exterior frame. The thing was as big as a mountain, and they had to fumble around blind to try to find her brother, amidst a battle no less.

"So," Luke sighed and leaned his elbows on the edge of the map. "I'm thinking we use your idea."

" _My_ idea? What idea is that?"

"Go up the elevator."

Her mouth stretched.

Luke began and pointed at a spot near the top. "Han and I saw him on this balcony. There is sure to be an elevator that goes right to it. So, you and I get in there and head for the central throat of this thing, and we go straight up to the top."

"You don't think they're going to lockdown the lifts the moment the battle begins?"

"Oh I know they will," Luke said, "Which is why we're not going to use the lift. Just the shaft. Like you did on Frakkan."

"But," her breath coughed. "That was thirty five floors! It took hours! And I was dying when I got to the top. This has got to be hundreds of levels. We're not going to make it up there until the next morning."

"Not if we're equipped with climber's grips. It's a _long_ trip, I grant you, but we can harness ourselves up and let the grips pull us up the cables pretty quickly."

Kess angled her head to consider that.

"The key is, they have to lose us once we're in there. Crix is going to cause a diversion so we can slip in the front entrance, and _they'll see us_ go in, but as soon as we get beyond the outer security layer, we need to get lost. The less they know where we are, the less resistance we'll run into."

She sighed hard and nodded. "That makes sense."

Then she pointed like this was madness. "We're going to go in there alone? Just the two of us?"

Luke pointed at the outside base of the Palace. "Once we get in there, Crix is going to hold fast on the exterior to make Palace security think they're successfully holding is back. It'll draw most of them to the outside walls to hold their position, which will give us more freedom of movement in the deep of it."

"How are we going to get down there?"

"We split up. I'm going down with _Five_ and Artoo. You're going down with Han. Where ever we're able to land inside the Precinct, we'll travel on foot and rendezvous with Crix's team somewhere around here."

"Why don't we just go down with Crix's team?"

"Backup." He said. "In case one of us doesn't make it down."

Her eyes turned to him again. Luke was dead serious. _Dead_ serious. This was, by far, the toughest and biggest battle the rebellion had ever attempted. The risks were huge.

He spoke quiet and dark. "This is going to involve lightsaber action against blaster fire, Telekinesis on locked doors, Persuade on guards, and no doubt killing a few people that don't succumb to all of the above." His eyes shifted to her. "We're going to need to use the full compliment on this one, which means we're going to need to be crystal clear of any distraction."

Kess inhaled with resolve and rolled her shoulders back, still staring at the map. "I want you to train me more." Her eyes shifted over. "I want to be ready for this."

Luke shook his head, then he offered. "What if I had Vanech train you more?"

Her brows knitted.

"You're used to me. You know my weaknesses. You need practice going against something you can't predict."

Her eyes drifted to nothing. She nodded. "You're right." She sighed hard at the map. "I gotta get back to work on the _Falcon_."

"Dinner later?"

It shattered her focus. Especially that Luke would deliberately shatter her focus from the mission.

He shrugged. "You've been distracted by things that have nothing to do with this," he motioned to the holomap. "Let's get away from it all and see what we can sort out."

Kess wondered what things he had in mind. She wondered if he knew the things that were distracting her had little to do with him. She was worried about her future in general. She tried to envision her life beyond a week from now, but nothing concrete was there to trust. She didn't even know how was she going to afford an apartment in the Big Apple when she didn't have a job. Kess accepted that she didn't have to think about it consciously for it to be a distraction.

And she needed to be crystal clear.

"Yeah. Let's." She nodded and turned away to release some of her worries on a wrench. "I'll comm you when I head home from the _Falcon_."


	13. LL5 12 Teamwork

Kess had never been to the High Tower restaurant. It was too rich for her pocketbook. She wasn't expecting a real date. They'd never been on one before. The invitation sounded like it was going to be all business. She only showered and changed into civvies after work, so when he pulled up in the fancy parking valet, she hesitated getting out. "Shouldn't I go home to change or something? Put on some makeup at least?"

Luke shook his head as he came around (but she opened the door and got out before he could do it for her.) He met her eyes with warmth. "You don't need makeup."

Kess flushed. At least she wasn't in a greasy flight suit so she didn't feel too embarrassed by her appearance. Luke hadn't said anything about Kess never wearing that black getup he once instructed was her Jedi uniform. Kess didn't like wearing black. It was too . . . _dark_. Most of the time these days, she just wore dirt brown pants and sand-colored tunics per her original Mos Eisley city style. Her clothes weren't grungy or rags, but they certainly weren't fancy enough for this place.

Luke walked beside her and eyed the other patrons as if this were a mission too. Protocol droids opened doors for them and escorted them up the elevator to a table overlooking the sea of yellow city lights. Kess noted with apprehension the finer clothes and snooty people enjoying their dinners. She recognized an Alliance senator but didn't remember her name.

Luke was clearly being careful about his actions with her in public, but he seemed to struggle with it. The rich location of the dinner could have been suggestive enough. Kess sat down at the little table by the big window, entirely uncertain how to act.

Luke sat down in the other seat. They ordered different kinds of wine from the server droid and settled in. Kess eyed the view without seeing it until she noticed Luke was eyeing her. Kess grinned bashfully.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Kess nodded at the table. She clasped her hands in her lap and tried a nervous smile.

Luke chewed on his lips with a new uncertainty too. But he pushed ahead. "So let's fill some of those questions in your mind about the not-so-distant future."

She sipped the glass of ice water. "I'd like that."

"Right now, all things are on hold until we get Nik back in one piece."

She nodded with deep agreement and thanks.

"And before that happens, there aren't any immediate concerns. Right? Or are there?"

"Well, we have the barracks. And the galley. And now that I've got this thing with Han. . . ." She shrugged slow and dropped her shoulders quickly. "No, I guess there's nothing else. I'm okay for a while. Until we leave."

Luke nodded. He inhaled hard through his nose to think and angled his head. "Then let me tell you what I've already planned for the Academy."

"Yes!" Kess was eager for this part, not that he had hid any of this from her, but they never talked about it as a specific topic. This was her chance to get an overview of the whole thing.

"We need a location, that's still up in the air, but once we get one, I have a list of facilities I want to get for the students, things like dorm and cafeteria and medical services so that all our basic needs are met. Transport pad, meditation chambers, library, etcetera. My rule will be that anyone studying with us will be able to avail themselves of these facilities for free as long as they are training."

She absorbed this like a sponge. "How are you going to pay for it all?"

He flashed a smile. "Similar to how the original Order did it. After BoE, Leia helped me set up a non-profit credit account. Everyone's welcome to donate. And for those to whom we serve mediation services, we will ask (but not charge) for donations toward that end for our living expenses."

"What about the Senate support you keep talking about?"

"That's going to come more in the form of the location to do all of this, which would be the most expensive part of it. But the 'stuff' is going to have to come out of the account, if it isn't donated by someone else. And every purchase will be visible for all to see."

Kess calculated this plan for a long moment, then she came back with more. "Can I ask how much is in it?"

"You can _ask_ ," Luke admitted with a smile, "but I don't know the answer."

She blanched. "You haven't checked the balance?"

"Nor do I intend to," he said with a particular grin. "That's the catch. We're always going to pretend like it's almost empty. 'Does it have enough to do this thing we need next?' 'Yes or no?' Beyond that, how much is in there should be of no interest to Jedi."

She shoved her tongue in her molar and nodded fervently. "That makes sense."

The wine arrived. Luke raised his glass across the table in a silent but smiling toast. Kess returned it just as warmly.

Now she was energetic and interested, propping her elbows on the table as his already were. "So, without prying too much, can I ask how much you've already used it?"

"I've used it twice," he told her. "And both were for small expenses on that trip when I went to see the man you kissed to shut up." But he grinned at his description. He only described Danje that way because couldn't say the name in public, just as he couldn't mention the upcoming Big Mission in public.

Kess flushed anyway. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

His fingers lifted, "Hey, your kisses shut me up just as well. I can't get mad at you for using a tactic that works."

He said it in public. No one was listening to them, but Luke said it in public. Kess loosened up. This dinner felt like the first time they were planning this out as a team. To be included in this private data made her feel awesome.

"Really? Only twice? In two years?"

He shrugged, "I had a job until recently too, just like you."

"What about now?"

"Now, I get to benefit from not spending it all on partying every weekend," he chortled.

Was that a dig at her spending habits? Kess stretched her mouth to the side.

Luke eyed her with respect and grinned more. "Honestly, if I could go back and do it all again, I'd have done it the other way around. I learned recently . . ." he eyed the air to remember what someone once said, and nodded some more, "what I missed out on was worth far more than what I gained by saving the money."

 _Apology accepted_ , she thought.

The droid rolled up. Kess absorbed this new information as they ordered food. Her future began to have a vision.

The droid rolled away and Luke angled his head to focus again. "So all in all, you don't have to worry about jobs and expenses in that part of your future. . . . Assuming of course, you decide you want to be part of the Academy."

"I thought that was a given," she grinned as she sipped her wine.

Luke shook his head at the table. "I'm not accepting anymore 'givens'." He seemed to stiffen with his own self-discipline and met her eye. "I'm not assuming things I've no right to assume."

Warmed, she offered with a light in her eyes. "Are you asking me to present certain assurances?"

His eyes flared too, and his grin grew big, but his voice died to that same whisper just as he said it before. "Not yet."

Now she was wildly curious. And the excited interest shined from her whole face. "What is this thing you have on your mind?"

"It's just a surprise," he dismissed easily, and he dashed his head aside, "and I'm still working out the details."

"But you're not going to tell me?"

With a comic tone, he threw her own line back at her. "Sometimes you have to take a lie as, 'I'm not ready to talk about it yet.'" But even his words ended with a glow and a grin.

"Okay." She acquiesced, but still she wondered.

He watched her for a long minute, then, "So what else is worrying you?"

The food arrived. Kess reminded herself that she needed to train herself way from avoiding questions as much as he was clearly training himself not to keep things from her. She came back to the conversation eager and interested. "Ben," she said, "and Vanech. What's the plan?"

Luke grinned at his plate. "I guess it's high time I start letting you on the mysteries of curriculum, huh?"

"If you want me to train Ben," she pointed out.

"Generally, it's just 'light side first and save tricks for later'," he explained. "Vanech is a tough one. I wasn't expecting him to come. I know he's going to let us in on why he's here in his own time, but even after he receives all the training he wants, I doubt he's going to stick around."

"Plus he knows a half a dozen tricks already, apparently."

"Right. So my focus on him will be to bring him back firmly to the light side and give him all the tools he needs so he can stay there after he's no longer with us."

Kess chuckled. "Hard to imagine a back street pimp as a light sided Jedi."

Luke grinned strangely, "Yeah, that was my thought too."

"But you know," she squinted into memory, "Those women were _not_ mistreated."

Luke sat up. He listened.

"They were healthy and clean (for the most part). They had moxy and a power in their own right. I mean, it was still a brothel but," she fought for the words to describe it with accuracy, "they were just doing their job, like I fixed fighters or you trained pilots. Taking care of people in that specific way was just their business."

"So he took good care of them," he noted.

"I don't know if he 'took good care of them' as much as he was just their business owner. Not that I saw much, but the place was running like a well-oiled machine. None of the women got nervous when he entered the room and none of the guests seemed to react to his presence. It was not what I expected for a whore house."

His brow lifted with humor. "May I ask if you've been in one before?"

"Yes." She smiled, and she nodded. "I had a friend once who got caught up in it thinking that was her only way out of a difficult situation, so me and a bunch of buddies crashed the place to do an intervention."

Luke smiled, "Did it work?"

"Yes actually," she brightened as she ate. " _Eventually_. It took a couple of tries. But we got her out and got her bacta dipped. Once she got the spice out of her system, she found her own feet."

Luke beamed. "Good for you."

"Guess I was already being Jedi-like back then, huh?" She joked. "Saving people from their own dark side."

He dashed his head aside. "The more I learn, the more I consider myself to be your _second_ Master."

Kess had just shoved a bite into her mouth and blurted before she was done chewing it. "He didn't teach me anything."

" _Oh yes he did_ ," Luke stressed. "'Light side first, tricks second.' All I taught you was tricks."

"Oh yeah?" She smiled big but her voice went quieter. "Are you dropping hints now?"

Luke squinted. "What do you mean?"

She eyed for onlookers and whispered dirty. "We haven't had sex since the circuitry bay."

Luke rubbed his lips with grinning embarrassment. He set his elbows on the table and clasped his hands loosely to bounce against his smiling mouth. He tried to shrug it off, "Our minds have been on other things."

It was true, but she teased him about it anyway. "We can't go too long or we'll have too much catching up to do."

The bill came and Luke paid without noticing he did. "Sounds like you're the one who's dropping hints." But his smile was from ear to ear now.

Kess dashed her head innocently aside. Her Force Print was radiating anything but innocent.

Luke liked the comfort of this whole conversation, even if most of it was just business. It was nice not to have to hold back. It was nice to learn there was more about her than he already knew. But the best part was that she was growing more comfortable with the idea that he wasn't entirely in charge. There was a new synergy in this partnership. There wasn't as much shyness and nerves getting in the way anymore.

And he really liked it.

He stared at her passed his fingers and grinned more. _Soon_ , he thought. _Very soon._

With a fresh breath, he sat up. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Depends on where we're going," she whispered sneaky, her eyes flared with suggestion.

Luke's tongue played with his teeth as he eagerly climbed out of the chair.


	14. LL5 13 Meditation

Nighttime. It was the first part of Nik's new routine that he thought he'd be able to get some peace from all this, but the I2 droid sedated him into a coma every night. They helped him undress (as if he needed the help) and helped him into silk pajamas whether he liked it or not. At least they were treating him like royalty—except for the drugs and the shock-treatment anyway. Nik felt like he hadn't slept in the three weeks since he arrived here because sedation doesn't grant a person the REM sleep one needs to fully refresh. Maybe that's why they were doing it.

And maybe they were sedating him just to ensure he didn't try to escape in the middle of the night.

When N4 stepped back, the I2 droid rolled up and Nik couldn't take it anymore. "Don't stick me with that thing. Please? Can I have one natural night's sleep?"

All sentients were gone from the suite, so he wasn't sure why it would do any good to argue with programmed droids, but he argued with the thing anyway.

"Look. I'm not going anywhere. Where would I go? There's guards everywhere!"

I2 continued to roll over.

Nik challenged it with attitude, "Am I the Emperor or not?"

I2 paused.

N4 shuffled nervously and bowed, "Yes, my lord."

Brows lifted into Nik's forehead. His shoulders rolled back. "Well then. Glad we got that straight." He waved I2 off. "Your Emperor _decrees_ you get the fuck away from me with that thing."

N4 tried to argue on its behalf. "But, my lord—

"May name is Darth Tovecus!" Nik shouted, then added. "You try to poke me I'm gonna break you in half." He raised his hand in a threat to give the I2 a Force choke. The droids didn't know he couldn't.

I2 shifted and tittered indecisively.

Nik nodded once and climbed into the giant bed. "I just want a real night's sleep." He waved at the door. "Clear it with Jakobi in the morning." He shut off the bedside light and laid down; secretly hoping that settled it.

Nik kept his eyes closed and listened hard. He settled sideways into that super comfortable pillow and sighed like he was settling in, but he listened for droid movement. Soon, the overhead lights went out and both droids move quietly to the door. And it closed.

He peeked one eye. They were gone. He lifted his head and checked around the room. No one was in here. He smiled big in the darkness but hid his little fist pump under the covers in case they had cameras in here. He guessed there would be. He pretended he was asleep to ensure he'd get this chance again.

He rolled to his back and settled himself flat, wrapping his arms over his stomach under the blankets, and took a big deep breath. His thoughts were active.

 _My name is Nikolai Lendra. And let's start doing this for real. Let's see. Kess talked about meditating. How the hell do you do that? I've seen snaps of Bundha monks sitting funny and staring at candles. I don't really have that option. So let's try to do it prone, looking like we're asleep. So what does the mind do? Focus on a candle? I guess I can imagine a candle. Let's try it._

He tried. He really did. But his thoughts kept wandering off. To Gina and Ben. To Jakobi. To the Eye-Two droid. To Kess and Grandpa. To what he ate for dinner. He kept trying to come back to the candle image in his mind, but his thoughts kept drifting away every few seconds.

 _Wow, I'm not very good at this._ He thought.

"You're doing fine," Obi Wan assured.

Nik flashed his eyes open to find the glowing man sitting on his bedside. He began to sit up but the ghost patted him back down. "Pretend you're asleep. The cameras can see you, but they can't see me."

Nik rested back obediently and tried not to move his lips as he talked. "Why can't they see you? Why can _I_ see you?"

Obi Wan answered, "Because you're seeing me with your mind, not your eyes. And you don't have to speak; I can hear your thoughts."

 _Okay. So tell me what the hell is going on._

"Well, clearly, they've blurred history enough to make everyone believe I'm the one that turned into Darth Vader so they can use you as a figurehead for the Empire."

 _I got that part. I don't get how Kess is coming to get me. Was she just here? Or was that my imagination too?_

"No, it wasn't your imagination. She was here. They put key elements into play. But they couldn't get to you. It would've done her no good if she stayed."

 _How are they coming to get me?_

"For the safety of that operation, Nikolai, I'm not going to tell you that."

 _Dammit_.

"I know it's frustrating, lad. You just have to hang in there."

 _How long?_

"I'm not going to tell you that either. Surely you must understand the risks."

 _Fine_. _Then what about you?_ _Aren't you afraid I'm going to tell them about you?_

Obi Wan's voice smiled. "Go ahead. Tell them you're seeing ghosts. Let's see where that gets you."

 _Good point._

"It doesn't have to be a candle. It can be anything you like. I taught you this already, if you remember."

 _I chose to ignore it._

"I'm well aware."

 _I was twelve._

"Which was why you needed it so dearly at the time. If children are taught to meditate before puberty it makes suffering puberty tremendously easier to endure." He added with a groan, "For all parties involved, I should note."

 _Lecturing me even in death?_

"Only when you need it, child."

 _I'm twenty-nine._

"My point exactly."

Nik fought not to chuckled and groan. _I missed you._

"I missed you, too."

 _Why didn't you show up before now?_

"I had hoped you would have started your training before now. But the larger truth? I don't think you could sense me even now without the drugs."

 _They're spiking my water glass._

"I know." Obi Wan sounded concerned. "But you've kept it together. Even without me. That mantra you think before and after each treatment; that's what's keeping you tethered to reality."

 _I don't know if it counts as a mantra._

"It's working so far."

 _Can you tell me about Gina and Ben? How are they?_

"They're safe. And they'll be safe until this is over."

 _How do you know?_

"Because I know where they are. The Empire can't get to them where they are."

 _Where are they?_

"No details, lad. Stop asking me."

 _You're right._

"Now, pick something you've stared at before. Like the sunset over the dunes or the flash of a shooting star."

 _The sunset. I like that idea. Brightness._

"Precisely. Imagine it with all of your mind. And when your mind starts drifting away, don't fret. Just bring it back to that image."

Nik took a deep, hard sigh. . . .

 _Why am I suddenly horny?_

"Because your sister is about to um," Obi Wan's voice shifted with humor, "break the Jedi code."

 _So I_ _can_ _sense her!_

"You always have. This is a surprise?"

 _I just didn't know it could reach this far. Is she close?_

"The Force has no distance, Nikolai."

 _Who is she with? I didn't even know she had a boyfriend._

"You'll find out soon enough. Now give her some privacy, will you? Focus on the sunsets."

Nik sighed again and tried. _This is really fucking hard._

"Now, now. You know better than to use that language around me."

 _Yeah, but you're not really sitting here either._

"Oh yes I am. In more ways than you know."

Nik squeezed his eyes shut. _I'm scared, Grandpa. Dammit. I'm a grown man and I'm scared out of my wits._

"I know, Nikolai. You'd be daft if you weren't. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Nik tried to breathe and get control of himself. It was a struggle.

"Focus on the sunsets over the Dune Sea. Let them shine through your mind."

Nik focused. And it helped.

Grandpa didn't say anything after that, but Nik somehow felt he was still sitting there. That helped too. He wasn't sure how long it lasted. His mind drifted away and he brought it back for what seemed countless times, but remembering back on it the next day, he realized he was probably asleep within minutes.

And, the next day, he felt so much stronger.


	15. LL5 14 Virginity

'Catching up' was exactly what it felt like, but only at first. Without conversation, they unanimously agreed to go to his place where the bed didn't squeak like crazy. The moment his bedroom door closed, he was kissing her on the mouth while his arms rushed to take off his tunic. The kissing paused only so he could pull the undershirt over his head and toss it away before his mouth landed for her again.

Kess was in an equal rush just to keep up with his stripping, but she grinned inwardly that he was so hungry. She had begun to wonder if he'd lost interest, but perhaps he'd been holding back on account of all those worries—waiting for her to openly invite this.

She made a metal note to invite this more often as she slipped her pants down over her hips.

Luke pulled her in by those hips, heaved slowly as he closed his eyes, and kissed her again, this time with the richness of tasting a delicious desert. He panted into her mouth, "Damn, this is addicting."

"Only for a few minutes," she smiled up and blindly hooked his trousers.

Luke chuckled as he sat down to yank off his boots. "Surely we can make it last longer than that."

"Eventually," she grinned while unlacing her own boots.

Free of his boots and pants now, he stood again and pounded off the light with the side of his fist. "And I'm glad to rise and meet that challenge."

Kess crumbled into a wild snicker at his unintended pun. Luke growled in his own embarrassed laughter as he crawled her backwards onto the bed.

But that's where all the rushing stopped. Both were still in their underwear, for Luke particularly enjoyed taking care of that part himself, (and she really liked how he did it). His fingers snuck under the elastic as he kissed her again, slow and thoughtful, and her body squirmed in approval, inviting him to take whatever he wanted. It was intoxicating. Luke barely recognized that moment again. _Mine_. But he recognized it enough to let go of it. Because she wasn't just his, he was hers too, and that made it all the richer.

Fingers traced along her sides and down her hip. Fingernails scratched gently across his scalp. Mouths explored and breath quickened. He clawed down her underwear with the intent to pull them off, but his fingers accidentally dipped into a well of creamy fur. A cry escaped her throat.

 _Plan Besh!_ He thought with open eyes. He pulled the fabric away only enough to get out the way, watching the shape of her face in the dim yellow light coming through the window. He touched it again, and he felt her reaction more than he saw it, but the reaction was like a fast rising mole digging for the surface of a sand dune, a little geyser of passion. He fumbled a little, searching gently, and he _found it_. Her mouth opened and her breath stopped like he was choking her. Luke had to shake his head to that that's not what he was doing. His fingers moved and explored, noting the exact spot that made her catch her breath, the exact pace that made her shudder for more, and his own passions began to rise with her.

He couldn't stop it. He rode that tidal wave right along with her, save for the truth that he wasn't touching himself. It was all on the Force for him. It wasn't as strong, so it took a little longer, but when she started clawing at the muscle of his arm, he could feel his coming too. She rattled and shook and gurgled at length, he tried to keep his eyes open to watch her in it the moment, but his eyes slammed shut as he shuddered and let loose all over her hip.

Luke fell into her neck and pulled away his fingers to balance his weight over her. "Okay, this could be a problem." His laughter muffled in her neck.

Kess shook her head fervently, trying to catch her breath amidst her own shy laughter. "N—this is not a problem."

And he peeked up, his voice grinning tightly. "How is this not a problem?" He lifted onto his elbows over her face. "If you go, I go. I can't seem to stop it."

She took his face with both hands and lifted her face nose to nose to stare him in the eyes. " _This is not a problem_."

He shrugged his hand, but he didn't pull away from the forced nose-to-nose stare. "How does it usually happen? Aren't I supposed to hold back until I can't stand it anymore?"

She hitched a strange laugh. "Don't you remember?"

Luke rubbed his lips and chewed them closed.

She let go of his face with a new shock.

Luke humbled. He pulled back only so they could look at each other without going cross-eyed. He shrugged his brow, and stretched his mouth, and met her eye with humility. "No." He shook his head. "I don't."

Kess shoved her elbows behind her and lifted her body up to stare as if she'd been struck on the head by a club.

"I don't have anything to remember," he admitted in a whisper.

"I thought you—" She stuttered for the words. "You said you—"

Luke pushed back a little further, growing almost meek now. He sat up beside her and twisted around to lift his brows at her. "I said was in love before. I didn't say I had sex before."

As if he'd just told her someone had died, she sat up beside him and curled her arms around one of his. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged shyly, but he met her eyes through his tousled hair. "Embarrassment?" He shrugged again. "You—

He didn't finish, but he didn't need to. Kess knew by the way his eyes closed that he had been a little intimidated by her apparent experience. Now, this was a different landscape.

She cuddled deeper against his arm. "I'm sorry."

Luke flashed a new smile and squeaked. "You're _sorry_? What are you sorry for?" He laughed like the idea was absurd.

"I don't know." She smiled her mouth against his shoulder. "Just, I guess maybe I'd've done it different the first time. For your sake."

"Oh yeah?" He lifted a curious eyebrow. "How?" With a dirty smile, he rolled back on top of her. "Maybe you should demonstrate that." He kissed her neck again.

Kess giggled in spite of herself and tried not cringe at the bite that came after. "Well, you don't seem to need lessons."

He pulled away only enough to say it to her face. "Oh, that's just instinct."

"You're good at those, are you?"

He brushed his nose tip against hers. "Apparently. According to you."

Madly in love, Kess kissed him again. It started slow and shallow, then grew into a hard, deep, incredible kiss. His palm kept her head there until he came up for air, and then his palm moved down to her knee and pulled it out of his way.

"I guess the good part about all this," he whispered into her mouth between kisses. "There's more where that came from."

He didn't wait for an answer, and she was stretching for it even as he slid inside.

This was even better, and Luke nearly shook his head at the truth that this was going to be even quicker. He needed to find a way to make this last, but she wasn't helping in that effort, and going slower seemed to bring it about even faster. After only four, slow, firm thrusts, he could feel her body already starting to shake. He wanted to pause the movement but he couldn't. He pumped in one more time—slower—when suddenly she relaxed.

Luke opened his eyes. She was still in this, but her eyes were closed and her mouth was open in that neck-giving stretch like she was still waiting for him to enter. Her Force was a shade calmer. Luke was confused. "What are you doing?"

Kess opened her eyes at him with a tiny, loving voice. "I'm holding back."

His breath escaped in a huff of surprise. He kept her eyes and pushed in again, smiling all the way through it. They panted into each other's mouths, unable to kiss at all now. She shuddered from time to time but for the most part watched him with open eyes, watching him as he moved faster and harder and hungrier, watched his face widen with surprise at the growing intensity of it. She cradled his head to enjoy her own final tremor while he tumbled down into a crazy earthquake on top of her.

He held his breath and gasped it out into her throat over and over again until the drug of it dripped away from every nerve. He tried to smile against her throat but it only came out in a weak whisper. "You don't need lessons either."

She barely had the strength to smile in the humor. Her legs pulled his to fall farther down. Her arm made his face settle into her collarbone. Still enjoying just the gentle current of being inside of her, he relaxed to her will and drifted drunkenly. He tried to pull up a minute later, but her arms wouldn't let him, and he didn't have the will to argue. Luke dozed entirely. It was like riding on a cloud. He wasn't sure if that was the best part.

Or if the best part was waking up still entangled inside the woman the next morning.

She was still asleep. Her hair was everywhere, tangled over the pillow like a halo. Her face rested in dream with one arm draped over her head, but the other arm was still wrapped around his shoulders, and one leg wrapped around the back of his knee. It was as if, even in sleep, she wasn't going to let him slip away.

Luke gently shifted more weight off of her so she could breathe easier. He tried to move only slightly but he slipped out anyway. But that was okay. He adjusted the covers over them both and rested his head in his palm just to watch her. A black string cut across her neck and Luke realized the locket had fallen over her shoulder. He plucked it gently out and rested it softly between her breasts.

And he looked at it.

And he looked at her.

And he grinned.


	16. LL5 15 SEVEN — Artoos Memories

Kess wasn't sure why she wasn't expecting it, but a lot of people hung out after knock off to help with the work on Artoo. She took over a big empty spot near the repair sup desks and rolled out a powder blue static proof mat. Kayla helped her get Artoo safely on top of it and Ashten rolled over the astromech diag station to plug him into when the whole thing was over. Chewie straddled a broken chair to hand tools over from a tall toolbox. Wedge parked his butt against the edge of a desk to watch it all. Threepio was babbling on about how worried he was when Han and Leia strolled up too.

Chairs were pulled around and crates were squatted upon. Kess got everything prepared, made sure they had all they needed, then sat on her bum in front of the dead droid and waited for Luke to arrive before they got started.

Kess used the opportunity to ask Threepio questions about their history together just so she'd know what to look for. It was true; Threepio assured they were already together for their last memory wipe, approximately 29 years ago. All agreed that was a very long time for a droid to go without a memory wipe, noting again that's why Artoo was the only astromech with which _Five_ worked so well.

Kess eyed Wedge across the group, but she didn't pose the question aloud.

She didn't need to. Wedge shrugged an answer anyway. " _Five's_ the fastest bird we've got _because_ they've been paired up so long. I'm not going to wipe her unless we have to wipe him." He gestured at sleeping Artoo.

Kess petted the droid again.

Han looked over and gave Wedge a deliberately arched eyebrow.

Wedge shrugged his hands and laughed, more at the Minister of State lounging amongst the gathering than anyone else. "Give me another X-wing to replace her with and I don't have a problem."

Leia grinned like she already had secret endeavors in the works, but she didn't say anything to confirm or deny.

A few minutes later, Luke trotted around the corner like he'd been running the whole way and said hello while he was catching his breath. As he sat down on the ground by Kess, she offered over static-dissipating hand lotion and made him put on an ESD strap on his ankle like a tending mother. He rubbed his hands together as Kess opened the little door by Artoo's left arm.

Luke took a deep breath and meditated a moment as Kess unwrapped the new chip from its case.

He saw the new chip resting carefully in her palm when he opened his eyes. He saw Ashten holding out the hot solder pen within reach of his other side. He then took the iron and passed it across his own lap to hand it to Kess.

"You sure?" she asked, taking in hesitantly.

Luke nodded and scooted back so she could get closer. "You know what you're doing more than I do."

In the crowd behind them, bodies shifted and eyes exchanged glances.

Luke and Kess focused. The chip wasn't the hardest part; it was the memory. The chip went in within a minute, but sorting out the memory cards and setting them back in the right slots was what took concentrated effort and triple checks. It took more than an hour. Kayla had to go and quietly bid goodbye without too much distraction. Other random onlookers got bored and left too, leaving behind only the 'family' plus Wedge and Ashten.

Luke and Kess had already unhooked all connection to Artoo power cells so he wouldn't short himself out with all this. They agreed to give the guy a cold boot so he could check everything on the way up. With the diag unit wired into his face, the power connector at his hip, four hands and two faces shoved together to peer into his guts, and an audience in breathless hope that this was successful, poor Artoo may as well have been a sentient human undergoing serious surgery.

Finally, Luke and Kess retreated from their knees to sit on the floor again. Kess paused her finger on the switch. "Ready?"

"Yeah, wake him up." Luke motioned her to go ahead and combed his hair from his eyes.

The droid hummed a little and blinked on one light at a time, ticking incoherently as his primary functions checked themselves before moving on to higher ones. His dome spun entirely around once, then it spun back around the other way, clicking back to Zero Position like a true robot. One by one, his doors flipped open, reached out tool arms and folded themselves back in.

Kess scooted back to give him room and shared a grin of hope with Luke. So far, so good.

When all that was done, all movement and lights paused for a long beat. Then Artoo's blue/red flashed back and forth like he was blinking, and his optic spun around like an eyeball trying to find focus. Faces were already smiling but no one said anything yet. (The real test was yet to come.)

The dome shifted back and forth to look at all the people glad to see him awake, shifted a little more to see he was back on Yavin 4, Pad 14, with the _Falcon_ parked where it should. Luke. Check. Threepio. Ashten. Check. Han. Check. Leia. Check. Wedge. Check. Chewbacca. Check. Kess. Check.

And that's when his personality came roaring out.

Artoo swiveled his head to Kess, angled on his shoulders to cower over where she sat in front of him, narrowed his blue eye back to an angry red, and reached out a power connector to zap her knee, accompanied by a long rude warbling sentence.

"Yikes!" she retreated, but she was laughing with everyone else with overwhelming relief. She assured the bionic man as she rubbed her own knee. "I deserve that."

Ashten had the reader in her hand and read what he said. "Well, his profanity's back." She announced with a smile.

Threepio wailed on, "Artoo! It's so good to see you awake again!" (Leia calmly turned her head over to order him, 'shut up, please.')

As Artoo asked Luke if everything went all right on the trip, Kess climbed to her feet and took over the chair by the diag station. Ashten's eyes were already stuck on the first set of readings.

"That's weird."

Kess tried to look over her shoulder at the droid, but couldn't take her eyes off the strange readout. "Threepio? You said the last wipe was 29 years ago?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. I can retrieve the exact date if you like."

Both she and Ashten were squinting harder at the screen now. "No, no. It's okay—

Luke's voice was stiff. "What's the matter?"

"He doesn't have a wipe date." Kess told him, finally settling in the chair to get to work.

Ashten hovered over Kess's shoulder read the screen. The green woman muttered pessimistically, "I've never seen a droid without a wipe date that wasn't fresh off the factory floor."

Everyone shut up. Already they were finding information missing from Artoo's brain. Shoulders stiffened and breath silenced.

But Artoo seemed to take all this like they were overreacting. He beeped.

Ashten read, "He says he's never been wiped."

"That's impossible," but Kess wasn't the only one to say that.

Threepio prattled on about how he and Artoo were wiped together. He proceeded to pull up the exact date as proof.

But Artoo interrupted him. And his personality was obvious in his extended sentence to the other droid.

Threepio angled to argue back. "Why would they wipe you and not me? That is entirely inappropriate."

Artoo rattled a shrug sounding answer.

Threepio went silent for a beat and straightened again. "May 21st of 3258 of the Lothal Calendar, Captain Antilles—

Luke and Leia both got whiplash to look back at Threepio, then they looked at each other.

Artoo tittered impatiently and swiveled his dome to aim an optic out at a space on the floor beside Luke's knee.

"What?" Kess asked, all now eyeing the twins smiling at each other with an odd humor.

"That was our birthday," Luke explained lightly. He was going to ask something else but Artoo was already showing his proof with a pale blue holo-memory playing out on the floor.

It was all from Artoo's short point of view. The holo image moved as he and Threepio walked with a human for few steps until they stopped in front of a captain in an Alderaani uniform. Artoo's focus was on the captain for most of it, but they heard another man speak. _"Captain Antilles. I'm placing these droids in your care. Treat them well. Clean them up. Have the protocol droid's mind wiped."_

At the end of it, while the recording of Threepio was freaking out about it, Artoo's view had turned to the man who gave the order.

Leia's eyes bulged to globes. She flashed with laughter. "That's my father!"

Han's knitted his eyebrows.

"King Organa," she clarified. "That's my father. And he's so young that capture!"

Luke's mouth hung open. He waited until the rest of the pleasant shock in the room had settled before he narrowed one eye and gestured at Artoo. "Is there any more of this recording?"

Artoo whistled and Ashten read it off. "He wants to know how much of it you want?"

Kess wasn't the only one who was a little lost, but they all quieted and watched with interest.

Leia realized what Luke was on about and opened her mouth, "You don't think—

Han was the one to blurt it out, "What's going on?"

Luke specified to Artoo, "Did you witness any babies being born that day?"

Wedge blinked, "You really want to watch a holo cap of your own birth?"

Leia shook her head quickly and explained to the questioning group. "No, but it might get us pictures of our mother."

"Ah ha," was the overall sentiment, and all were more eager now to see what the droid had in his brain.

Artoo had whistled and Ashten read off, "He said he was in the other room for that part."

Luke grinned and nodded at the floor.

Leia asked. "Do you have any caps of her? Padmé Amidala?"

Artoo beeped once and Ashten read, "Many."

Luke looked Artoo in the eye and chortled, "Well, we're going to download all of those if you don't mind." He turned to hand tools back to Chewie.

Artoo beeped a 'whatever'.

Kess muttered to Ashten, "Let's run a full diagnostic on his memory base."

Chewie cocked is head and hooted a question at the droid.

Artoo beeped an answer. Ashten read again, "Many."

" _You're kidding_!" Han blurted.

"What?" Luke said in alarm. "What'd he ask?"

Chewie pointed at the ground and gave Artoo an order.

The droid swiveled his optic back and shot out a glowing, blue, four-inch snapshot of a tall, young man in Jedi robes.

Luke's mouth could've collected bugs. Leia turned her chin with a squeak, "Is that who I think it is?"

Han lowered his elbows to his knees and chinned at Artoo. "How much memory of him do you have?"

Artoo shut the image off so he could answer the question. Ashten read, "Nine hundred and seventy eight terabytes."

"Of just _him_!?" Luke shouted.

Artoo beeped affirmative.

"Why so much?" Han queried hard.

Artoo whistled and Ashten read with a strange grin. "He says Anakin Skywalker was his master for thirteen years."

Luke rubbed his eyelids with his fingers.

Artoo beeped again and Ashten read, "He says that's why you two fly so well together. 'You fly like he did'."

Luke's eyes popped open again with a disbelieving hitch.

Leia dropped back in her chair and dropped her fingers to her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me."

Luke rolled his head with a giant sigh at the droid and shrugged his hands with a whine. "Why didn't you tell me you had all this?"

Artoo's tones shrugged again. Ashten read (fighting a smile), "You didn't ask."

Luke dropped his head from his shoulders and tried not to cringe with laughter at his own lap.

Kess gestured for the diag unit, "Are we ready for the full diagnostic?"

"Wait a minute," Luke gestured with both hands for all conversation to halt so he could grin out a new question at the droid. But then he paused. His eyes went up to the air to think how to word what he was going to ask for.

Leia figured it out first and angled her head. "Artoo, were you at Mustafar?"

Artoo beeped affirmative and Ashten read, "He said he's been to Mustafar four times."

Leia blinked patiently. "Were you at Mustafar the same time as Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker?"

Artoo beeped affirmative.

Leia inhaled hard and glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one else had wandered up to listen to all this. Luke dug his fingers into his bangs to react to a rotating stomach. Wedge crooned a deep, pale, 'woah.' Han rubbed his hand loosely over his mouth. Kess swiveled hard around in the chair with her own gaping surprise, "Are you talking about . . . when. . . ."

Chewie murmured an order at the droid and motioned to the empty space on the powder blue mat.


	17. LL5 16 Painful History

"Wait." Han stopped them with concern. "Are we sure we want to see this now?"

Leia murmured, "Threepio, go wait by the travelway and make sure no one else comes over."

Threepio complained about the irrelevance of distant memories and waddled away. Luke shifted aside on the mat to give Artoo more room to shine out the holo-image, and Kess lowered from the chair to her knee to watch closer.

Leia gathered her hands at her knees and spoke calm orders to inch Artoo through the memory. She started by asking for the first images of landing on Mustafar on that particular trip, with which they saw Anakin walk away from a fighter and say, _"Artoo, stay with the ship,"_ as he pulled up his hood.

By the angle of his shoulders, it had already been a hard day.

Kess put a hand on Luke's arm. Luke reached blindly up to take it and hold it with tension.

There was a lot of nothing after that. The audio was incoherent with the roar of lava processers nearby.

"Artoo, skip forward until you saw another ship land," Leia instructed.

The droid considered that for a moment and flicked out a new image, now looking down from the same spot as a Nubian cruiser landed on the pad below. They watched the little blue image of a pregnant woman run down the ramp and fly into the arms of the man who now rushed back. There was no audio, the roar of the lava processers drowned everything else out, but they didn't need audio to understand what was happening.

She was pleading him, but He continued to insist on some grand plan.

Leia crossed her pregnant stomach with one arm and covered her mouth with the other. Han reached over and petted her back.

Luke covered his mouth too. Kess settled on her hip beside him and curled both arms around his bicep. She was there to support him as equally as she was using him to hide behind for fear of what she was about to see.

In the pale flickering image, She was shaking her head as He was continuing his diatribe. She stepped incrementally backwards as His discipline began to harden. She began to cry and He began to shout, and they both looked suddenly back to the ramp of her ship.

Luke squeezed Kess's arm in his and swallowed hard. An argument. A Force choke. Then Obi Wan Kenobi stepped down the ramp and into view before Anakin released Padmé to collapse onto the deck.

"Oh _shit_ ," Han breathed.

The pacing started. The robes came off. They were circling each other.

Luke shook his head and pulled his eyes down. "It's already over. We should—

"No." Leia stopped him. She met his gaze. "We need to see this." She angled her chin to Kess. " _She_ needs to see this."

Luke glanced back to see Kess's equally affected eyes. He took her hand firmly in his. He took a deep breath to brace himself and watch.

Obi Wan ignited first, Anakin a moment later, and the whole thing was a stutter of bright triangles as the lightsabers moved so fast that even Artoo's recorder couldn't keep up with their speed. They were gone through the building's doorway in seconds.

Per the image, Artoo immediately got to work, sneaking around the corner to stay out of the way as the duel carried on into different chambers, but only enough to curl into a different corridor and rush down the pad below. He and Threepio worked together to pick up Padmé and get her back into the ship. They activated the onboard 21B and stayed by her side as the med droid checked vitals and put an oxygen mask over her mouth.

"Play it through." Leia told him, and gathered her wits. She looked at Luke.

And Luke looked back gravely.

Han glanced tentatively back and forth at them both. "Did we learn anything new?"

"She tried to pull him back," Leia said hard, still staring at Luke.

"But why didn't it work?" Luke asked back.

She shook her head, "There's no way we could know that."

"Why did Grandpa ignite first, though?" Kess queried with concern.

"Because he was already gone," Luke squeezed her hand. He shook his head in sadness. "He was already lost and Obi Wan knew it, that's all." He settled and watched the images continue.

With Padmé safe, Artoo rolled back out down to the pad and swiveled around to find where the two Jedi had gone. By now, the triangles of light were stuttering out on a distant heat fin over the river of lava. The memory of Threepio spoke beside him, "Oh dear," as the two droids watched in mechanical horror as the fin broke and fell to the melted rock below.

And still they fought, insects trying to kill each other as they gripped the huge extender and climbed away from the slashing lava. Artoo and Threepio rushed along the pad to watch the thing float by. Now the droids could only see tiny swiping fans of light flash along the fin's neck all the way to a lava fall.

Luke thought that was it and wanted to hide his eyes, but he couldn't. He was just as surprised as everyone else when both tiny bright sticks bounced back onto distant mining droids hovering along the lava river.

Han set a palm on a knee and cussed under his breath.

More fighting as they floated closer, and Luke began to hope they'd see more. But one jumped to the dark shore, too far away and too distorted by the lava light to be able to recognize which one it was. Then the other one jumped, and the final blow swiped with a circular slice.

Anakin fell to the ground and rolled like a dead rock. Obi Wan backed up.

Was he screaming?

"By the stars, he's still alive," Ashten gasped, recognizing the wriggling bit on the dim landscape just before it burst into bright blue flame.

The whole group reared back. Hands covered mouths. Eyes stared hard. They watched the tiny image of blue flame burn itself out. And still the body was wriggling.

Artoo's capture wavered when the droid panicked over that development. The memory of him and Threepio launched into a predictable argument about what to do next. Despite Threepio's fussing, Artoo rolled back toward the building to wait eagerly for the survivor to return.

As Obi Wan passed by the droid in the holo-image, Luke ordered, "Stop."

The image froze. It was monochrome blue, but Artoo caught a perfect capture of Obi Wan's down-turned face, of his dejected shoulders, and his indisputable expression of grave failure.

The group went deathly silent to stare at it, to absorb the extent of what they just witnessed.

Eventually, Artoo shut off the image and swiveled his head to look at Luke, but he didn't say anything.

All hearts pounded for a full minute more.

"We have proof now," Leia sat up to say.

Luke grimaced over at her. "Proof of _what_?"

She met his gaze evenly. "That Darth Vader wasn't Obi Wan Kenobi."

* * *

Artoo's memories were intact. His diagnostics came up all green, save for a few spots, but Artoo confirmed those blanks spaces were lost during adventures years back. The little droid was in a rush to return to Luke's apartment to plug in and drink up a well-deserved re-charge. He rolled away without them as soon as Luke gave him the permission. In head-shaking silence, the group put away the tools. They dribbled away from what began as a hopeful gathering but ended with new understanding of just how brutal that final showdown had gotten so long ago.

Kess knew Luke needed to meditate this away more than she did. Even though both men were long dead, it was still difficult to watch. It was only slightly easier for her because she didn't have to watch her grandfather get butchered. She learned more respect for all the parties in this story. Obi Wan and Padmé fought so hard to pull him back to the light, but Palpatine had already shoved Anakin Skywalker over the edge.

That night, after shedding only belts and lightsabers before laying down in his dark bedroom, Kess curled tight into him and Luke wrapped tight around her, both squeezing their eyes shut as if that would help fight away the images. They tried to meditate like that for several hours, but they really just laid there. Eventually, they gave up the effort and parted only to strip away an outer layer of clothing and return to the same position under the covers so they could sleep that way too.

Luke drifted to sleep first, but his arms around her were still oddly firm for a person who was unconscious. Kess looked sadly up at his face and recognized that, right now, she was being _his_ tether this time. He wasn't turning to the dark side over this, but his feelings were dark enough to need stability. She settled in and stayed there, eyes wide-awake to recall the holo-capture of Padmé pleading desperately to talk some sense into Anakin.

She could call him that now: Anakin. She saw the man behind the mask now. She saw her usually strong and calm grandfather in his ultimate moment of heartbreak and defeat. And she understood so much more.

Kess wondered if she would have enough power to pull Luke back in case a similar thing ever happened to him. Did she have enough influence to pull her brother back? Her thoughts focused on prevention. Leia was right; they could never know why Padmé didn't succeed. But Kess looked up at Luke's sleeping face and accepted her ultimate duty.

She closed her eyes against his chin and held him tighter so he couldn't drift away.


	18. LL5 17 One With The Force

They hadn't focused on the couple for a long time. In part to grant them privacy, but more because their focus was on more difficult matters.

But that unsteady moment in the Force sent a ripple. It made them glance and look closer to see what was happening. The holo images disturbed the two of them almost as much as it disturbed the offspring who now watched it for the first time.

One reached down with his patience and love and touched Kess on her sleeping head.

Noting the gesture, the other did the same to his own. The couple was at relative peace only because they were wrapped around each other in support, even in sleep.

"They're going to be okay," one assured. "She takes good care of him."

"And he takes good care of her."

"They have questions."

"Of course they do." A gentle smile, "But we cannot give them any answers. We can only point them in the right direction."

"Why?"

The elder turned his wiser focus on the younger. "Because they have to interpret their own answers."

He didn't like that assessment.

"Our place in the galaxy has already ended. You made sure of that."

"Still harboring anger, are you?"

"Simply requesting you don't challenge the outcome of that which you caused."

The young one began to flare up then, but his unity of self began to crumble as he did, so he calmed himself down just as quickly. He had to stay 'here', if he was going to be able to stay _here_. "I'm going to stay with them."

"I wish you wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because this is theirs to figure out, Anakin. And for what little experience you have in it, forgive me for saying so, it did not end well."

The other considered that with humility.

"Come. Help me with Nikolai." The voice faded. "He is your path to further absolution."


	19. LL5 18 SIX — Get Used to It

The next day, Luke spent a large part of his day in the clearing with Vanech, and Kess spent a large part of hers back in a flight suit and getting happily dirty on the _Falcon_. With this opportunity to fix units while not in use, and with all the tools she could possibly need, _and_ with the trust of Han or Chewie, Kess made record time on the repairs. Most of it didn't need to be fixed as much as it needed to be re-fixed. The jobs were to repair _correctly_ what was a hurried, shoddy patching amidst some disaster. Han was so pleased by her progress that he rewarded her by giving her more work to do.

Luke and Kess agreed to let the sleepovers take a rest so they could manage some real sleep. They meditated deeper when they were away from each other anyway. But when the evening came, they 'accidentally' ran into each other at the Hot Shop by the grinder.

They sipped cups of sweetened java on a picnic bench under a yellow street light and chatted for hours. At first, they talked about Vanech's progress and ideas how to approach Nik and Gina so they could get permission to train Ben too. Then they talked about the _Falcon_ repairs and how Han was treating Kess like one of the crew. Luke didn't seem surprised by it. He just seemed proud of it.

He gave her that look again, and she asked again. But Luke stretched his grin in failed attempt at a shrugging frown and whispered it again. "Not yet."

Kess laughed it off but didn't say it aloud. _Just buy me the damn chocolate already. It's not rocket science._

They ended up regaling their secret reactions to each other's bullshit during her training. This brought upon another hour of tittering laughter, followed by a settling sigh and a bright-eyed glow to stare into each other's eyes.

"So I have a question for you," she posed, almost timidly. She wasn't entirely confident she'd get an answer to this one.

Luke sat almost sideways on the park bench, resting his cheek against his fist so he could stare at her. "What's that?"

She tried to figure out how to word it before she squinted at him. "Now that it's over, what would you have done differently in my training?"

"Hm." His eyes narrowed at the night air. He cocked his head. "That I had a choice about?"

"Sure, we can start there." Kess wanted it all.

He flashed a smile and gave her a quick answer. "I would've started your training a lot sooner."

This wasn't what she expected. "Why didn't you?"

"Fear." He said it to her face. "I wasn't convinced I was ready to start training anyone. I got so little of it myself, and since Ben trained my father, I knew what the risks were if I got it wrong."

Kess angled her head to nod at that assessment. Her eyes shifted back, "Anything else?"

He inhaled a full smile, "I wouldn't have kissed you as soon as I did."

She grinned, but she shrugged. "I'm not sure that would've delayed anything."

"It would've delayed you turning to the dark side," he pointed out with a smile.

She sobered to discomfort.

He explained easily, "You were frustrated because you already knew I wanted you. You just didn't _know_ it yet. Kissing you in the clearing that day with the dud sabers just got you more confused."

She had to nod at that too. "Yeah, that's true."

"But I don't regret it," he pointed out, "if that holds any sand."

It did, so she came back with more. "Anything else?"

Luke shrugged. "Little things, I guess. I already gave you all those notes. Didn't that answer it all?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I just like hearing you talk, y'know, without biting your own words back. I'm still getting used to that."

His hand shrugged from his knee. "Ask away."

She smiled over, warmed by the open invitation.

"I'm still getting used to it too," he said. "I'll take all the practice you throw at me."

Kess thought about it for a moment, trying to find something that would be a topic starter. "Tell me something you wish you could have said but didn't."

His brow arched with a chuckle, "Other than 'I love you'?"

She chuckled too. She wasn't tired of hearing that, but she nodded.

Luke's eyes went to the night sky and searched his memory. His face began with a grin about it, but it faded. His Force Print swelled with fear of heartbreak. "Don't date anybody," he said it quietly, and his eyes landed on her again. "Wait for me."

She whispered, "I did wait for you."

"Yeah, but I couldn't ask you to."

She chuckled, "You _tried_."

"I admit that." He nodded at his lap. "I overstepped my bounds a couple of times."

She fidgeted with a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, it was a good thing."

"Why do you say that?"

Kess shrugged bashfully, "I was about ready to start dating someone else just because you pissed me off so bad."

"Who?" The question escaped his lips without stopping by his mind for permission.

She shrugged again, "Oh, no one specific." She met his eye with that truth. "Just to get out. Y'know? Have something of my own that was still me."

Luke fidgeted with his ear.

"Towards the end there, that couple weeks before I quit, I was looking for things that were just _me_. It felt like you'd stolen all of it. I had all the pilots breathing down my neck about the ground, and your training was getting harder, and I just—my mind craved something that wasn't related to any of it."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Well, you did what you had to. I understand that now. But back then it felt like the status quo was going to last forever. Meditation helped a lot, but. . . . Sometimes I just wanted to go to the library and read some novel to get my mind away from it all, but I didn't have time. And, after that lightsaber fumble at the party, going out with the crowd like I used to didn't have the same effect. I was always too afraid I was going to make another mistake."

Luke began to understand. He felt a little guilty about it, but most of what she was talking about was timing. The training and grounding Rogue Group should not have happened simultaneously. The truth was, he delayed her graduation because he was afraid of doing it too soon. And he'd worked her so hard because he had fallen into the delightful habit of using training as an excuse just to hang out with her. The best he could do, he decided, was noted this information for future trainees. Even Jedi need Bendudays off.

With a new respect for her independence, (and renewed curiosity of 'who' it was) he lifted his chin and fidgeted with his ear some more. "So why didn't you?"

"Why didn't I what?"

"Date someone?"

Her face flashed with humor. "Because you told him 'no'."

He chortled, "Oh, Wedge doesn't count. He was only thinking about it because someone else _told_ him to. Didn't anyone else ask you?"

Kess suddenly remembered Wedge's 'untold story'. She hadn't thought about it at all since the day she figured it out. She decided to change the subject before an accidental revelation created un-substantiated worry.

She shook her head mid-sip of her java. "Mm mm. Nope. Everyone pretty much treated me like I was already spoken for."

Luke kept her eyes and smiled distantly. He whispered, "You were."

She grinned.

"I just didn't tell anyone about it."

"My friends guessed because they knew me."

"Same here." He flashed a deep laugh. "You should've seen Wedge light into me. That day I ripped your head off about the party thing? Oh man! He has _never_ cussed me out like that before."

"What did he say?"

Luke imitated the expression as best he could, "'Don't me that crap, I met you fresh off the farm.'"

Kess laughed.

"It wasn't the first time he called me on it either. He figured us out _early_."

Kess realized how true that was and decided again they needed to shift topics. Quickly. "You know what I wish we would have done different?"

"Hm?"

"I think it would have been easier if we hadn't gone to the clearing so often."

His brows lifted. "Really?"

"It was too . . . _intimate_. At a time when we were trying to convince ourselves not to be. It was like a test, _every day_. It was easier to, I don't know, 'behave'?, when we were anywhere else."

"Hm." He angled his head. "Not that I'm going to have that problem again, but that's something I should put in the training notes."

"I would've said something before," a guilty grin grew, "but I liked it."

That was the dark side at work, Luke knew, but he was guilty of it as well. He nodded at himself that she made a good point for both of them. "Me too."

They stared into each other's eyes for a very long time, both grins growing into big flushing smiles.

Finally, she admitted. "I want to ask more just to get you talking, but I can't think of anything else to ask."

"Well. It's not like it's your last chance," he pointed out. "This is the new status quo."

She flushed, "I'm still getting used to that."

His eyes were intense. His grin was deep. His voice was nearly a whisper. "Get used to it."

He watched how she bit her lower lip as if to attempt to keep her smile from wrapping around to the back of her head.

"But," he angled his head the other way, and sighed maturely. "We have to get to bed."

Kess nodded. "Yeah, I know." It must've been nearly midnight by now, but neither bothered to check chronos to know it. She rattled her long empty cup. "The last thing we need going into this thing is a lack of sleep."

One by one, they stood and stepped over to throw their cups into a nearby recycle bin. After which, he turned to her and opened his arms. Kess dove into his body and hugged him like he was desperately-needed oxygen. Luke hugged her back just as hard.

But his mind snagged on what he wanted to do next. This was in public, technically, though no one was out here to see it. Maybe some distant security camera, but . . . _who cares?_

In his nervousness, he fumbled to kiss her, landing a long shy smooch on the mouth. After a beat, she opened her mouth for more.

Luke couldn't help but take it. And this was the dark side at work too. One inch . . . and he immediately wanted the whole mile. He kissed her long and slow, but let it fall away and brought his brain back to what they were supposed to be doing.

"Good night."

She smiled satisfied. "Good night."

Luke had to put his hands in his pockets to keep them from doing anything else. It helped. As he rocked away on his heels, his eyes hovered back as far as they could reach, but he ripped himself away from it and forced himself to go home alone.

He could sense her back there. She was practically skipping with glee as she went back to her own barracks.

Luke crossed the street with a cocksure strut. He rolled his shoulders back, lifted his chin, and thought it audibly. _Get used to it_.


	20. LL5 19 FIVE — Surprise

On the way home from long and largely unsuccessful day with Vanech, Luke stopped by Leia and Han's apartment to report his misgivings. Leia came out of her home office to hear it while Han poured him a drink at the wet bar.

"I can't trust him until I know what motivates him," Luke reported sadly. "I think he lost someone, but he won't let me in on the details. That man wants _revenge_. And until we know who and why," he eyed Leia and shook his head.

"Well it can't be revenge against _us_ ," Han noted. "The Alliance never did anything to him."

Luke shrugged a hand from the bar. "Yeah, but until you know what's he's after, you really want to trust your infiltration team on his word alone about the layout? You want to trust the success of this entire advance on _his_ word?"

Han shrugged his eyebrows. It was a good point.

Leia looked equally grave and absently rubbed her little swelling belly.

Luke sighed his promise. "I'll keep working on him. Even if it comes at the last minute, it'll help. But I'm not going to try until I know what he's after."

Leia nodded with severity and turned away. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Sure."

The two men watched her disappear into the hallway and resume her after-work work.

Luke thumbed over his shoulder. "Is she okay?"

Han waved the woman off. "She's like this before every one of 'em. She's not going to relax until it's over."

"What about the baby?"

Han rested his hip against the back of the wet bar. "I make her get frequent check-ups at med lab. And I catch her meditating once in a while. She'll be fine."

Luke nodded, but worried.

"I'm going to surprise her with four days on Naboo when it's all over. Get her out there in the grass with the waterfalls and no one around for miles." While it all may have sounded romantic, Han smiled as he brought his drink to his lips. "I'm going to play a whole lotta solitaire while she sleeps."

They laughed together, but Luke brought his face back up with a question. "How are you doing it?"

"Do what?"

"Planning that, without her knowing about it."

"Well," Han thumbed over his shoulder, "you see how absorbed she is right now. If she wasn't, she'd know about it before I even thought it up."

"You can't surprise her?"

"Most of the time, no." Han shrugged, then looked at Luke . . . and squinted devilishly. "Why do you ask?"

Bashful, Luke looked down at his own drink.

Han settled both elbows on the bar across from him. His voice was an order. "Talk."

Luke lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. "Well . . . I have an idea. It's just an idea. And it needs a lot of detail to consider, but—

Han nearly laughed at him. "Goddammit, Junior, quit bullshitting me and _talk_."

Luke raised his face with a whine. "Every time it crosses my mind she's knows I'm up to something. I can't even—

The words stopped in his throat. He closed his eyes and shook his head, dropping his face to the bar again.

"It sounds to me like you need a secret accomplice," Han instructed.

"Naw, I appreciate that, but not on this one." He smiled distantly at his drink. "This is bigger than four days on Naboo. And it's going to have to wait until after the big thing anyway."

Han shrugged it off a little too easily and pushed back to his feet. "Alright. Let me know if you change your mind. I can be quite handy for covert operations."

Luke smiled, thankful, and nodded that this was true, but his eyes fell on nothing to stare overwhelmed at his own idea.

And Han watched him, grinning secretly how much the kid was dwelling over it, but he waved Luke away. "Go home. Get some sleep."

Luke nodded somberly and bid him good night.

* * *

Hours later, Han walked into Leia's home office, stopped directly in front of her desk, and looked dramatically at his chrono. "Times up."

"Just a few more minutes," she tried to say.

"Nope," Han pressed his mouth and shook his head. He locked his knees and slid his hands into his pockets. He stared at her with the threat that he was going to stay there and distract the crap out of her to the point where she couldn't get anything else done anyway.

Leia slumped a sigh, but her mouth grinned, and she climbed up from the desk chair in obedience.

"You hungry?" Han said as he shut down the lights and closed the door behind her.

"No, I'm fine. I ate more of that blackish strudel than I should've." She led the way down the wide hall and Han followed her all the way into the bedroom. As he shut that door too, Leia sat down on the foot of the ivory bed and sighed with stress.

Han moved to the windows and thumbed the blinds. "If I ask you something, can you keep it a secret?"

Leia blinked out of her daze. She looked at his back like he was insane. What secrets hadn't they kept already?

Han turned and strolled over, gesturing with both hands. "Like a _big_ secret? Bigger than this thing we've got coming up. And probably harder to keep too."

Leia's back was straight now. Her mouth parted with concern. "What?"

Han sat down on the foot of the bed beside her, turned a little, and gestured again. "I don't know if maybe I'm Force sensitive too or if I've just been around Junior long enough to read the kid's mind—

Leia threatened an uncertain smile. "What?"

Han angled his head the other way and thought how to word it. "Luke wants to surprise Kess with something, and he's having trouble planning it out because she can sense him, but he won't tell me what it is."

Leia dropped her face and smiled at her lap. She shrugged a brow and nodded that that would be a problem amongst Jedi.

Han continued with a gentle cringe. "I want to help him out, but I don't want to plant ideas in his head."

"When did that ever stop you before?"

"This is _big_." Han stretched a half smile with intensity. "Bigger than sex in the circuitry bay."

Now that Leia's mind was on softer and gentler things, she breathed easy and smiled easier. "What did you have in mind?"

"I know a guy who can 'smuggle' me out one of those Tatooiney bone things."

She lifted her chin. "Yeah, I saw the way he was looking at the other one during dinner the other day. But I can't tell if he's decided it or just still considering it."

"I think he's decided it and just stuck on how to get it done."

Her eyes drifted into history.

Han nudged her. "You okay with Kess as a sister-in-law?"

"Yes, of course." Leia blinked. "I saw it coming a long time ago. I just didn't think _he_ knew it yet."

"Well, if they're doing it in the circuitry bay, I say it's coming along pretty well."

Leia dropped her chin to her chest and heckled. "He was so lonely for so long. I was really getting worried about him. It's nice to see him happy."

"After this thing, we're going to be distracted with a ton of work to put the Afterwards together. And we'll be farther from Tatooine, which will make it more difficult to get his hands on one without her suspecting it." He spread a hand. "He admitted she senses it every time it crosses his mind. And he's going to have to spend time carving the thing anyway, right? So," he shrugged.

Leia absorbed all this and looked over. "How fast can you get it?"

Han blinked back. "Only as long as it takes to ship it. You think I should do it?"

"Yeah." She said distantly, but nodded more, and smiled more. "Yeah, I do. Give it to him right before we leave. It'll give him a chance to think it through without her around."

Han nodded and patted her knee with a firm slap. "As your Highnessness commands." He got up and began getting ready for bed.

Leia didn't move just yet, "And when you give it to him—

Han paused his movement and glanced.

She smiled more, "Make sure he knows it's from both of us."

His eyes smiled to the statement that would make, and he nodded obedience. "Yes, Master."


	21. LL5 20 FOUR — Work hard Play hard

Benduday. Despite the rapidly oncoming 'Big Day', it was vital that the troops still got a day off, for sleep, for laundry, for taking care of their own lives for a while. And though the schedule was only known by a few, many seemed to sense it that no one was going to get Benduday off _next_ week. The rebellion had cranked it up to sixteen-hour days to get it all done. Everyone was exhausted, but few were complaining. As usual under this kind of stress, many of the troops coagulated together to play and scream and fight and fuck all their stresses out onto each other.

Freshly showered of the _Falcon_ grime and back in civvies, Kess wandered over to the grinder just as the giant planet overhead was starting to go to bed. Luke wasn't at the bench yet; but Kess found a whole bunch of other people out there instead.

Two park grills flamed up over food, accompanied by an urging for all present to eat so they didn't have to ship it. Someone brought out an ammo crate of bottled ales buried in a bath of cold nitrogen capsules. An old audiobox poured out young music. Three were throwing a handball around in their self-made triangle on the grinder. Kess stopped her feet toward the Hot Shop when Kayla came skipping out of the crowd.

The girly girls greeted each other and caught up on who was where and why they were here. Kess strolled over with her friend to partake in the free food. Wedge was trying to burn everything. Rogan was flirting with Yana. Joanne was sharing jokes with Ashten. Half of Rogue Group was out there, accompanied by another two dozen random barracks loiterers. Out on the nearby grinder, Kess sensed Seidrik's mischief and turned quickly to catch the ball before it hit her in the back of the head.

"Oh!" Crooned Joanne, laughing and commenting. "Did you see that?"

Meanwhile, Kess glared in play back at Seidrik and threw the ball back at him (she wasn't much of a pitcher) and instantly closed her eyes to try to Force Telekinesis it into his forehead. But the ball had to slow down in the air for her to maneuver it and Seidrik deftly waited until he could leap up and pluck it out of its slowed hover.

"Dammit," she groaned playful, then pointed hard at him. "I'm gonna get you back though."

Luke strolled up and dropped the training duffel at his feet. He put his hands on his hips and looked out at the event with a smiling shrug. "Not exactly the purpose of that trick, but I can't say I disapprove." He smiled hello at Kess as he snagged an ale out of the ammo box.

Wedge complained without looking up, "Are you steeling my beer?"

"I am steeling your beer," Luke confirmed. His eyes shined at Kess as he popped it open.

She looked him up and down. His civilian clothes were filthy from rolling in mud and skidding in chlorophyll. She glanced back to find Zach Vanech still standing outside the big group and looking over the crew as if to take in clues. He, too, was filthy from the exercises.

Kess smiled up, "So dud training has begun already, I see."

"Ugh," Luke grunted, but he grabbed another beer and smiled out. "Zach!"

Zach looked over just in time to catch the flying bottle. Unsmiling, he popped it open and strolled to join them, but still hovered a pace away, silent and watching, observing everyone.

Kess lowered her voice. "What happened to, 'light first, tricks later'?"

Luke sat down on the bench beside her, both of them facing away from the table to watch the ball throwing on the grinder. He murmured, a little more privately, "Too many tricks already. Seeing if we can practice tricks on the light side instead."

Kess secretly watched Vanech stroll a few steps away with his beer. He listened to the chatting of the crew, eyeing various people, then eyed Kess that she was watching him. She pulled her eyes down and murmured to Luke, "Can 'we'?"

Luke leaned back against the table and crossed his ankles. His eyes carefully watched Vanech and murmured back to her, "We're trying. That's what counts."

Wedge yelled over the noise. "Yo, Vanech! Want some grub?" His eyes on Vanech were honorable and peace-offering.

Vanech looked at Wedge a beat; then he stepped over to peruse the menu being burnt.

Kess watched. Vanech was like a wild animal afraid to take an offering, but the man seemed to have use of enough Force Empathy to know these people were trying to welcome him with respect. The only part Kess couldn't be sure of is if the man _wanted_ the friendship. He could easily be here just to infiltrate them, but she didn't think so. She tried to sense out to him again . . . nothing. Her only clue to his demeanor was his body language.

Kess sensed the ball coming and ducked when Luke's hand reached out and caught it before it flew over her shoulder.

Luke called out to Seidrik with friendly warning, "Are you trying to start a fight?"

Seidrik smiled and motioned Luke to throw the ball back. Luke wasn't going to, but Kess told him to.

She was already leaning down to reach into the training duffel. "Go ahead. I'm going to put an end to this right now."

Luke smiled at her idea as he sat up and threw the ball hard. It sailed overhead and Seidrik stepped under it to catch it like a pro. But while Seidrik's eyes were on the ball, Kess hopped to her feet and paced to the grinder with a dud lightsaber in her hand.

 _Snap-vrooom._

"Oh _shit_!" The ball players scattered like rats.

Kess smiled as she spun the harmless white blade in the air, nodding pugnaciously at Seidrik. "Come on. Throw it at me one more time. I dare ya."

Seidrik walked fast to stay out of her reach, and Kess paced slowly for him like she was trying to catch a cat, but they were both chuckling at this display. The whole crowd of forty-some troopers chewed sausages and slurped beer to watch this.

"I don't want you to slice my ball in half." He leapt out of the white blade's reach again. " _Or_ me."

She shrugged. "This thing won't hurt you. It's a dud. For practice."

Seidrik stopped his feet. "Yeah? Prove it on you."

She cringed a fresh smile. "I'm not going to prove it on me. I'm going to prove it on _you_."

 _Snap-vroom._

Vanech spun the other white blade in his hand and strolled sideways onto the grinder with a dark dare. "Prove it on me."

Seidrik trotted entirely off the grinder. Others backed up until they were well beyond reach of this craziness. Standing bodies now stepped out of Luke's way so he could jump up from his seat.

But he didn't jump up.

Kess paused. Her eyes took in Vanech's steady stalking and glanced to Luke to see if he was okay with this. Luke considered it and eyed her back with an invisible nod, but he shifted on the bench until he wasn't lounging anymore and quietly pulled his real lightsaber hilt into his lap. He held it on his knee at the ready and watched close.

Vanech was swinging the dud saber, after all. His own little one was still in the holster at his hip. And Kess still had her real one hanging beside her thigh. She could defend herself in case this got ugly. Although Luke was ready to jump and lend a hand if necessary, he knew Kess didn't need it.

The crowd hushed and settled. Chewing mouths hung open. Eyes stretched to watch as bottles were sipped. Vanech paced out beyond her on the oval grinder and faced her down several meters away. Kess readied herself on both feet and gripped the hilt with both hands.

Watching him carefully, Kess gave Vanech a taunting smile, "Bring it on, Padawan."

Was that a glitter of humor in Zach's gaze?

Holding his hilt with only one hand, blade up, he stepped forward to her, slashing once as if to hit her blade away. It was as quick as a striking snake. He paced around her and did it again. Kess held her ground, blocking them easily. Short, quick strikes. Easy reaches to meet them. He was feeling this out, and she was learning his moves.

He lunged and swiped down for her calf and she turned hard over to block it with twisted wrists. He stepped back a pace, paused, and he came in again, slashing twice.

She caught both, but the twist of her wrists was a hard stretch. He had more maneuverability by holding that big hilt with one hand and he knew it.

 _Fine_ , she thought. She brought back one hand behind her back and shifted sideways, holding the white blade at an angle between them. The hilt was too big and heavy for proper one-handed fencing, but she worked her muscles to manage it.

She felt Luke's new grin.

Vanech's brow twitched. His mouth parted in what was almost a smile. He slashed again, this time with three fast swipes.

Kess danced back and blocked them all with precision.

Cusses erupted from their audience.

Vanech paced back and around again. He was trying to work out an angle. Kess realized he wasn't used to practicing with someone. She also deduced that his weakness was his intent to win. She skipped back over, her feet never staying in the same place for more than a beat, and faked him two quick strikes.

Vanech reacted to both, catching them both, and seemed to know they were fakes before she made them. Before the last of her attacks was over, he lunged up, swiped high to the right and down low with a backhand.

Kess leapt aside and smashed blade to blade before it snatched her in the thigh.

He seemed to think this was going to be easy because he was bigger and stronger, but Luke trained her for that already. Her focus was more on smoothly evading his blade than trying to get him back. After all, lightsabers were for defense, not attack.

Still, she managed a few fencing-style strikes that came close but she didn't overreach to make the kill. He elbowed out of one of them with a deep step sideways. And he skipped out of the other with a laugh that ended in a little shuffle to get back in position.

"Wrap it up!" Luke ordered from the crowd.

Neither of them glanced at the command, but they heard it. Kess wasn't sure if Vanech was going to comply.

Vanech stalked forward once more, this time swirling his blade on either side of him in a fast figure-eight, a spinning tactic aimed to unsettle one's opponent until they didn't know where it was going to land, but she had never seen it performed quite like this.

Kess shuffled back from the advancing blade, watching his eyes carefully. She couldn't sense him, so she couldn't know from which direction the blow would finally fly, so she used another idea instead. Instead of focusing her mind on his blade, she focused on his _body_.

Ready . . .

When Vanech twisted around for the final blow, Kess yanked his torso forward with a Force Pull, jumped quickly out of the way, and nailed him flat across the back as he went down.

The crowd erupted with alarm until they realized he wasn't dead; then they laughed with disbelief.

Vanech growled briefly at the pain and rolled onto his back with an angry huff. His lightsaber shrank away before she turned hers off, and, as the gathering groaned and commented and cussed, she stepped over and offered a hand over his chest.

Vanech looked her in the eye as if surprised by this offer, but he reached up and took it so he could pull himself back to his feet.

Kess noticed Luke latching his lightsaber back to his hip as they strolled back over to the party. Vanech picked up his beer and tossed the hilt back to the duffel. Kess stopped in front of where Luke sat and sighed big to catch her breath.

The group bubbled back up with new laughter and wild conversation around them.

With a hidden grin locked on her, Luke lounged against the table behind him once again, and smugly sipped his beer. His expression was nearly audible. _That's my girl._

She smiled. Kess wasn't expecting visible signs of affection here, not with the smattering of Rogue Group amongst this crowd. The Commander/Lieutenant thing was Luke's biggest ethical dilemma. Kess understood that. She kicked his boot with her boot, and he kicked back. That, and the glowing eyes, said enough by itself.

Vanech cancelled the moment by slapping the empty bottle on the table with an order to Luke, "Take me home."

Easily, Luke climbed to his feet to do so. He reached down for the duffel by her feet and murmured secretly as he raised his full height again. "We could go somewhere else."

Kess shook her head at the ground and lifted her face to eye him directly. "No, I'm going to stay here."

His eyes changed.

Kess looked out over this easy gathering. Everyone was having a good time, but she saw it all with lament. Orange Yavin was sinking over the steamy green horizon. Music danced. Food sizzled. Friends laughed. This little gathering wasn't a big deal, but something told her to absorb it all anyway.

She returned her gaze to Luke and wondered if he sensed that.

Luke rubbed his lips at the ground, nodded, and he met her eyes again, but sadly, perhaps even a little coldly. "I'll see you later."

It stung a little, but Kess felt she shouldn't have to explain it. The discomfort on her face was probably obvious when she rolled her shoulders up and turned her back to the departing pair. She swigged her beer and found Wedge's eyes snagging a glance at all this. He looked displeased when he turned his eyes back to flipping the food on the grill.

Kess strolled over. "You're burning it."

Wedge pretended to scowl. "I like it burnt."

She laughed. It was good to have friends that had nothing to do with the Jedi or Kenobis or Skywalkers. She sat on the edge of the nearby picnic table and swung her legs. "Did you figure out how to get _Five_ back with her pilot yet?"

Wedge twitched a black eyebrow with deep guilt and grinned mischievously over at her.

She laughed some more.

. . . And Luke's fingers paused on the ignition when he saw it.

He could see the attraction with clarity. Without him standing by, Kess wasn't stuffing the emotion away and Wedge wasn't careful with his expressions. Luke's brain snagged with disbelief, but he looked over the big crowd, including Kayla, and Yana, and Ashten, and Joanne. . . . Yet Kess stepped specifically over to hang out with Wedge.

And Wedge warmed to have her company.

One didn't need the Force to see the flirting flowing between them, but the Force confirmed it anyway. Luke now knew 'who' it was over which she had practiced stuffing away her feelings. He had practically forgotten about it, but now his heart tightened. For a moment, he pulled his eyes down to the dashboard and stared at nothing.

He tried to dismiss it, but he couldn't. He adjusted himself in the seat and turned on the speeder.

"Now you know why we used to be celibate," Vanech said.

Luke looked over.

Vanech eyed him with clarity, almost grinning over the whole thing. But he turned his face away and gazed at something else instead.

Luke forced himself into action and drove Vanech back to the hotel.


	22. LL5 21 Burnt, Undercooked, and Raw

"So," Kess said, just to make conversation. "What are you going to do about a repair manager?"

Wedge used the tongs to add more coals to the grill and peered at the flame. "I'm going to give it to Ashten."

Kess looked over her shoulder to see the green woman in the crowd, sitting with her husband and laughing at Rogan and Seth's antics. Ashten moved up from Floor Sup to Repair Sup only two months ago. Although the woman had the skill, Kess wasn't sure she had enough experience for the role. "You think she's ready for it?"

Wedge shrugged as he stood tall again and hooked the tongs on the rail. "She's been doing job since Neilson left. She just doesn't have the title yet." He looked out at the woman in the crowd and stepped over to sit on top of a picnic bench. "She's fumbled a few times, but she's handling it like a trooper."

Kess peered behind her to the laughing crowd. Rogan and Seth seemed to be laying it thick for Yana and Joanne. Kayla aided the fun with playful insults and shrieking giggles.

Wedge slurped his beer. His eyes studied them all. "In a war like this, most of us don't get the benefit of experience before we're promoted."

She returned face front and grinned wisely. "Are you talking about you or are you talking about Luke?"

Brown eyes narrowed secretly at her. Wedge sipped his beer again . . . and changed the subject.

He chinned over at the gang. "Rogan seems to have Yana in his sights. Didn't see that coming."

Kess looked at her own swinging feet. "Rogan doesn't have chance."

"How do you figure?"

"Yana doesn't date pilots."

"Oh yeah?" He sat up and set an elbow on a knee. "How come?"

"She thinks pilots are unfaithful as a general rule, and she doesn't have the patience to risk it."

His eyes aimed over at her. "And what do you think?"

"I think I only care about one of them. And _I'm_ not worried about it."

Wedge smiled and nodded. "Good for you."

"But in my experience, she's right."

Wedge just shrugged an eyebrow and swigged his beer again.

"This is the part where you're supposed to defend yourself."

He dashed his head aside but grinned with honesty. "That would be unethical of me, for I am guilty as charged."

"Is that so? This is a story I didn't know."

He climbed off the table to check the food again. "New pilots do have that urge to roam. Makes them feel invincible. Or maybe it's because they already feel invincible; I don't know. But the tendency fades . . . for those of us who survive long enough to grow out of it."

"Spoken like a newly-minted thirty-year-old." Kess lowered her voice so her next question wouldn't be overheard. "Is that what happened between you and Kayla?"

His eyes flicked over that she knew, but he accepted it quickly; of course she would. He admitted it with honor and humility. "And I was punished appropriately."

"Interesting."

"Why do you say that?"

"She only had good things to say about you."

Wedge chuckled darkly. "Kess, I wasn't punished _by_ Kayla. I was punished _for_ Kayla."

"Oh!" She laughed freely. "Oh, I see."

"Now, don't give me that look. It's ancient history," he said. "I wouldn't have transferred her over if it wasn't."

"Fair enough. To be honest, I completely forgot about it until a week ago. She never talks about it."

"I'm sure she doesn't. I was no more than an unwitting conquest." He seemed to accept that with ease, but he kept eyeing the gang out there with a distant grin. "When Kayla's ready to land, I'm sure she'll find a good port. She's still having too much fun with it though."

But Kess detected something in the way he kept watching the gang behind her. She angled her head. "Are _you_ ready to land?"

He nodded with direct honesty and shrugged. "Just looking for the right port."

She suggested with caring, "Got any in your sights?"

She watched his brown eyes peek at the gang and narrow at her again. He shook his head even as guilt welled up. "Not really, no."

"Then why do you keep looking over there like that?"

He spoke carefully quiet to point out. "Kayla's not the only one over there."

"Ah _ha_!" Kess smiled big.

Wedge shook his head to get her to shut up but his grin spread across his face. "Now, don't try it. It doesn't matter."

"Why not?" She whined.

Wedge stepped back over to sit on the picnic bench again, and spoke quietly, almost without even moving his mouth. "You just said it." He picked up his beer and murmured behind the mouth of the bottle. "She doesn't date pilots."

Kess's face brightened with budding glee. Wedge hardened one brow over his eyes to glare at her in warning. Kess didn't get the chance to answer before bodies bounced up to join them.

Joanne sat on the table by her hip and draped her head back against Kess's left shoulder as if the woman was a backrest. "Is the food ready yet?"

"You already ate."

"What's your point?"

"Come on, dammit. You're going to burn it." Yana complained as she checked the food herself, robbing Wedge of his tongs to turn the meat.

"He likes his meat burnt," Kayla poked as she stepped over too, lounging against Kess's right side. "Dark and crispy. Like Joanne."

Kess turned her chin over at her friend. "Did you just make fun of Joanne's skin color?"

Kayla chinned back. "Actually, I was referring to her recently roasting under the open flame of an exploding shield generator. But, shit, if that's all it takes to get her skin color, I'm game."

"Undercooked," Joanne announced with a spread of her arms and a laugh. "I shall hereby refer to ya'll as 'undercooked'."

"No, no." Kayla wagged her finger. "Me and Kess are undercooked. Yana's _raw_."

Yana's cheeks were pink to giggle all this too. "What about you Ashten? What's the trick to get your skin color?"

Ashten settled on the seat beside Wedge's knee and grinned her full green face. "Eat bugs."

As the women giggled collectively, Wedge hopped off the table in a hurry to interrupt Yana's work. "Don't take them off. They're not done yet."

Yana played keep-away with the tongs, making her healthy brown ponytail bounce the air behind her. Kess watched the woman's green eyes shift to the man with a daring glint. "Have you ever tried it 'undercooked'?"

Kayla seemed to detect the flirting as clearly as Kess did and offered (almost) innocently. "Have you ever tried it raw?"

Wedge's eyes flicked to the two of them with a disciplinary finger. "Stop. Both of you."

"Is that an order, Commander?" Kayla batted her eyelashes.

"If it has to be." But he smiled.

Kayla wrapped her arms around Kess's shoulders and announced with pride. "Well then, it's a good thing Kess doesn't work for you anymore."

Kess smiled back at Kayla with a deepening nod at this epiphany. "It is indeed!" They almost didn't need Jedi tricks to be on the same page—Wedge and Yana—Kess and Kayla eyed each other and nodded in agreement to this mission objective.

Ashten wrinkled her green eyebrows. "What are you two going on about?"

"Nothing!" Both peeped in unison.

Wedge rolled his eyes at them and began to turn away from the grill.

"Wait!" Yana snapped at him, motioning him back over, but still kept the tongs far out of any attempted reach.

Untrusting, but unable to disobey, Wedge turned his feet a back around to see what she wanted.

Yana eyed him with daring, snagged the beer from his hand, swigged it, and handed it back. "Thank you."

As if only to keep the smirk from his mouth, Wedge shoved his tongue in the corner of his lower lip. He turned away with a stiff sigh and a commander's shout. "ROGAN!"

"Go for Rogan!"

Wedge tried to sound angry as he growled, swigging his beer, licking his lips after, and walked away to join the other group instead. "Where's my wingman? I'm surrounded."

Seth crooned like the man was insane. "And you're bitching about this?"

All the while of his feeble exit, they women snickered in madness. Kayla dove her face into Kess's shoulder. Joanne clopped her palms together and rubbed them. Ashten lifted her green eyebrows with new understanding. Yana flushed a little pinker. "I can't believe I just did that."

Ashten settled her elbows on the other table and angled her head at Yana with a smile. "I can't believe it took you so long."

Kayla spread her arms with an announcement. "New project!" Still using Kess's side as backrest, Joanne spread her arms too and joined the long shout. " _New project_!"

Ashten chuckled at all this and 'reported in' to Kayla. "Do we have a mission plan, commander?"

Kayla poked a finger over at her. " _You_ , my girly girl, just became a member of the Girly Girl Team."


	23. LL5 22 Vanech Test

"Park." Vanech ordered as Luke slid the speeder into the hotel lot.

Luke pulled into a space but he was too distracted to wonder about Vanech's intentions.

"Come inside." Vanech told him, and he climbed out.

Luke didn't feel like doing anymore training right now. Part of him wanted to get back to the picnic so he could step in the way in case the attraction between Wedge and Kess was at risk of becoming something more. Part of him wanted to go drive to nowhere alone so he could think this through and meditate away this jealousy. He wasn't worried, not really. He trusted Wedge with his life. He trusted Wedge with _her_ life. And he trusted her with both of the same. It was attraction. Nothing more. At least she had good taste.

But Luke had duties. He turned off the speeder and climbed out, reminding himself to take every opportunity to bring Vanech back into the fold where he belonged. He scratched the back of his neck and directed his mind back to business as Vanech led the way into his private room and locked the door behind them both.

"Drink?" Vanech offered as he stepped to the little kitchenette.

"No, thanks," Luke murmured and sat down on the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the tabletop. He tried to get his mind off of it.

Vanech came over and sat down in the chair with a tumbler in hand. He lounged back, kicking his feet up on the table with a thud. "When are you going to ask me?"

Luke looked over. "About what?"

"About the Temple underworks." Vanech fished out a death stick and lit it up. He squinted through his own smoke at the man. "That's why you brought me Yavin."

Luke shook his head at the table and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"It's soon, isn't it?" Vanech said. "Those soldiers out there today, they all know they're about to die."

Luke shook his head again and met the man's gaze—

"Don't try to lie to me," Vanech instructed.

Luke closed his mouth. He thought for a moment, then, "Are you willing to give me that information?"

"Not for free."

Luke shrugged his hands. "What do you want?"

The man eyed him hard for a beat, sucking a new drag and blowing it out again. He didn't say anything. He only reached over for an ashtray and pulled it over to the armrest so he could use it.

Luke shrugged again and lounged back in the couch. "It's too bad we don't have the power to bring people back to life, isn't it?"

"Quit guessing," his voice was rough.

"Tell me my guesses are wrong."

Vanech eyed him hard.

"And don't try to lie to me." Luke almost grinned.

Vanech grinned back this time. But he settled back and cleared his throat. "They killed her to get to me."

"Is that why you want the Empire to end? Revenge?"

"I want the Empire to end for the same reasons everyone else does."

"So how is that not already the biggest possible payment?"

"Because what I want is more obscure than that."

Luke shrugged his hands from his lap again.

Vanech took in a breath. "I have 323 people in my employ. If the Alliance takes over, they are at risk of losing the legitimacy of their careers."

Luke smacked in dismay but he hesitated before insulting Vanech with his opinions.

"And you have no right to judge the careers they've chosen."

"But did they really choose it? Or did they just 'end up' in it?"

"They come in all flavors," Vanech worded with a grin.

Luke wasn't sure what to say to that.

"It's interesting. You disapprove, but your woman isn't so pure."

This only reminded Luke of what he witnessed between Kess and Wedge. He murmured in defeat. "Yeah, I know."

"She certainly seemed to know what she was doing when I had my hands on her," Vanech commented.

Luke's eyes sliced over. Vanech watched him through slits, studying for a reaction. The man seemed pleased. Smugly, he sucked a new drag and blew it away.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to see how weak you really are." He gestured with his death stick. "Everyone writes you up as the ultimate bad ass but you've got an Achilles heel. I'm wondering how many people know about it."

Luke's eyes drifted away, looking for clues in the air. Vanech was right. It was a weakness. But Luke was slowing learning how to take care of it. Wasn't he? "I guess we're going to have to find some way to keep it from being a weakness." He looked over again and shrugged. "That's your business, isn't it? Exploiting that weakness in people so you can profit from it?"

"I don't exploit anybody. They come for the care they need. My staff provides it."

Luke hitched. "You make it sound like medical care."

"It's not far from it, if you think about it."

Eyes searched the air again, seeing into his memory. While he didn't entirely agree, he understood the comparison.

"Not everyone can have what you do. Some people need to hire it."

"And what is that exactly?"

Vanech hitched a new grin. "Do you have any idea how much men are willing to pay just to get a woman to _look_ at them the way that woman looks at you?"

Luke pressed his mouth.

"And you're sitting here moping like a schoolboy because she was flirting with that other guy." He shook his head and laughed. "Luke Skywalker has a weakness." He reached over and rubbed the ash from his stick with a grinning croon. "News at eleven."

Luke chuckled at this. He scooted sideways and dropped his elbow on the back of the couch. "Fine." He lifted his brows at the man. "Do you have any recommendations?"

Vanech smiled the elementary answer. "Trust her."

"I do." Luke nodded at his lap.

"No, you don't."

Luke glanced up.

"Or you wouldn't be worried."

Luke couldn't argue that logic, so he said instead, "Are you trying to be my Master now?"

"You're not my Master," Vanech corrected simply.

"Where are you going with this?"

"I'm testing you."

"Testing me?"

"To see if I can trust you."

"Trust me with what?"

"323 people."

Luke lifted his chin with new understanding. He struggled for an offer he could give. "I'm sure we can find them new jobs."

"What if they don't want new jobs?"

Luke shrugged his hand for a full circle in the air. "Zach, I have no power over what the Alliance is going to decide is legal."

Vanech didn't seem to like that answer.

Luke added, "But the Alliance is only going to have local power over the Capital anyway. I'm sure it'll remain legal in other systems."

Vanech sat up and set his elbows on his knees, considering this heavily as he stared at the air.

"But I say give them the choice. I'm guessing much of your staff would choose something else if they had the chance."

"You don't know them."

"Like I said, it's just a guess. But you should still give them the choice."

Vanech glanced up.

"Do they have the choice now?"

Vanech stuck a tongue to his molar to think on that. His eyes came back. "How do I know I can trust you with your new 'weakness'."

Luke shook his head at the air, uncertain how to answer that. "It's not her; it's me. I've never been in love like this before. _That's_ the weakness. I'm just . . . still learning. That's all."

"What do you think she's doing right now?"

"Probably just having a good time with our friends. You were right. Most of them know full well they might lose their lives soon. It's part of the job."

"You don't think she's diving in a dark corner with that guy?"

Luke thought about that, and he smiled at it. "I _know_ she's not."

This was part of his test. Luke understood that. That's why he was giving these answers so freely. Vanech needed assurances that Luke wasn't compromised by jealousy. Based on Luke's uncharacteristic reaction during the mission, Vanech had every right to question it.

"I never claimed to have all the answers," Luke pointed out. "But I'm determined figure them out."

Vanech stared.

"The old code was broken. How? Why? I don't know. But I'm glad for all the help I can get to write a new one."

Vanech seemed to consider that for a long time. Luke was about to say something else when the man rose from his chair and moved to the com station in the corner of the room. He came back with a sketchpad and a stylus and sat down again.

He looked hard at Luke as he pointed down at it. "I accept that the details of this payment can't be defined yet. But you understand the nature of what I'm asking. Right?"

"323 people." Luke nodded. "We'll figure it out."

With that, Vanech took another full drag and crushed out his death stick, then hunched over the pad with the stylus and began to draw.


	24. LL5 23 Wingman

An hour later, back in his speeder, Luke paused before starting the engine and fought the urge to go back to the picnic. A dark voice in his mind tried to tell him there was no harm in driving by to confirm nothing nefarious was happening. Now that he knew who it was, his mind went back to Han's words on the roof of that apartment tower in Coruscant. 'She didn't pursue and he took 'no' for an answer.'

Only now did Luke realize that it was Luke's 'no' about which Han was referring. Wedge had asked the Jedi Master's permission to ask Kess out, back in the locker room, back in the beginning. And damn if that good friend didn't nip his own interest in the bud as soon as he realized Luke was interested too.

Rogue Three was still covering his six, even in this.

 _"I can't shake him!"_

He blinked. The flashback was involuntary, but closing his eyes against it only brought it all back.

 _"I'm on him Luke!" . . . "Blast it, Biggs, where are you?" . . ._ An explosion _. . . "Good shooting, Wedge."_

Luke shuddered out a breath and rested his eyes in his fingers. He didn't think about that day often. Too many deaths prevented that big win from fading as fond memory.

 _"Gold Five to Red Leader! Lost Tyree, lost Hutch! They came at us from behind—_ The panic in his voice.

He uncovered his eyes and stared out the window, seeing nothing but flashes of memory, out of order and incomplete. The voices were as audible now as they were when he first heard them in his helmet com.

 _"I can hold it! I can hold it!" —_ A crash.

 _"LOOSEN UP!" —_ A belch of flame.

 _"I'm hit! I can't stay with you!" —_ Wedge was terrified. Who wouldn't be?

 _"Hurry up, Luke! Wait! . . . WAIT"—_ Biggs screamed.

Luke was prepared to fly into the exhaust port with his own fighter if he had to. He never told anyone that. Too many people chocked him up as the big hero, but Luke felt himself to be nothing more than a fortunate survivor. It was the teamwork that got it done. Luke just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right skills for the final shot. If it wasn't for Obi Wan's voice and Han's last minute return, Luke would have died too.

But he didn't.

And now everyone treated him like a Living Legend.

He hated it.

 _"How did you do it?"_ She had asked. Her eyes were full of a begging plea for the big hero's guidance.

 _"Do what?"_

 _"How did you get back to work? How did you conquer everything after that?"_

Luke took a deep breath as he pulled out his comlink, and he took his own advice.

 _"You don't have to have a whole mission plan before getting started on the obvious stuff. . . ."_

His thumb turned on the speeder. He pulled out of the parking lot as he spoke into the link with tense energy. "It's me. I've got it. Meet me in the CIC Bunker."

Han jumped onto the project of figuring out Vanech's drawings with an eager rubbing of his palms. They loaded the information into the holo-map, stretched and skewed the sketches to overlay onto their intelligence of the Palace/Temple and Senate Precinct layout. Crix arrived minutes later and dove into the effort as well. There was a new energy as plans for the surface attack hardened with hope.

Luke kept his mind on the project, but a piece of him kept wondering what Kess and Wedge were doing. What were they talking about? How far had the interest grown? Was it still growing now? His aggressive instinct tried to convince him to go pluck her out of the picnic on the excuse that she needed to see these drawings too. (She did, but he'd show her later.) His defensive instinct wanted to block his curiosities from his mind, bury himself in work so that he didn't think about them at all. But that wasn't the right answer either.

No. Luke allowed his mind to wonder so he could face this, and did so without letting it distract too much from the tactical project in front of him. He remembered moments and details that he'd dismissed before. That day when Kess and Wedge shared a smile when she boarded him for take-off. That moment he walked into the Manager's office to find Kess hovered over Wedge shoulder to peer at the same terminal readout. The interest _was_ there. But the action wasn't.

Again, he reminded himself that the problem wasn't the risk, it wasn't _them_ , it was Luke's dark worry about it. So he explored that worry.

 _Mine? Yes. But only because I don't demand it. She waited. She waited all that time. After all I put her through. She waited for me._

Luke wondered if _she_ knew about Wedge's interest. If Wedge knew about hers. It was so . . . _mild_. It was there, but it was mild. On both sides.

And now Wedge's mild frustration that Luke wasn't asking her out either made ton of sense.

 _"Get her out of Rogue Group. Finish this stupid training. Then_ _you_ _ask her out."_

With the holo-map glowing up at his face, Luke let out a full smile and murmured. "Man, I owe you a drink."

Han looked over, "What?"

Luke shook his head softly, still grinning through a sigh as he returned his eyes to the map. "Nothing." His shoulders inflated with a new confidence and he stopped worrying about it altogether.

It was well after dinner hour when Luke returned to his speeder and drove him, but in this route, he couldn't get to the barracks without passing by the grinder anyway. Streetlights shined down yellow funnels on the dark sidewalks and sleeping buildings. He wasn't surprised to find the picnic party gone by now, but he suffered a tiny new spike of worry when he found Wedge and Kess still out there, alone.

She was sitting on the edge of one picnic table, and he was leaning his butt against the edge of another, deep in conversation. Luke couldn't help but wonder anew what they were talking about. The emotions emitting from them both were gentle and happy. And they were so distracted with each other that neither noticed Luke driving by.

He parked. He considered. . . . And he pressed his mouth to climb out of the speeder and walk quickly back to the picnic area.

She was swinging her legs and laughing at him. And Wedge was arguing back with a huge smile on his face. What were they talking about? It killed Luke to know. He managed to approach close enough to hear a piece of it before they noticed him coming.

"In space, yes! But not in atmo!" She stressed. "The friction is what does it."

Wedge shook his head. "I am not giving up my Crazy Ivans on the account of your hate for changing a thruster gasket."

"Well, it's a good thing I don't work for you anymore," she laughed back.

Luke nearly stopped his feet to cringe at the concrete. _Of course_ they were talking about fighter repair! Luke felt like an idiot.

They both glanced over to find him coming, and neither yanked down their happiness to hide anything. Luke strolled up with a new grin and sat on the table behind her to join them.

"Took you long enough," Kess smiled over her shoulder. "You missed all the food."

"No, he didn't." Wedge turned back and brought out one last disposable plate. The man grinned friendly as he handed the cold leftovers to Luke.

Luke took it and set the plate on his lap, warmed by the gesture. The two of them continued to talk as he ate.

"I know what I'm going to get you for your birthday next year," Kess told Wedge. "A whole basket of thruster gaskets. Too bad R5 can't change them out mid-flight."

Wedge stood on his feet and dropped his arms from his chest. "Don't need R5 to change them out," he teased as he turned away, "That's what we've got you grease monkeys for."

Luke glanced up to see Wedge waving as he went. "Good night."

"Night, Wedge." Kess shifted sideways on the table to look at the man behind her. "What took you so long?"

Luke saw Wedge walking home, then he looked at the woman who had been waiting for him. He realized now that Kess had only been hanging out until Luke returned, and Wedge kindly kept her company while she did.

His eyes shined at her.

"Oh no," she groaned. "Not another one of those Not Yet looks. You better start showing up with candy or something to justify this idea of yours."

"Something tells me you wouldn't be satisfied with something as simple as candy." He bit a big bite out of the burnt meat and smiled around his chewing.

"Maybe not, but it would buy you time."

He swallowed his bite. "Turns out I don't need as much time as I thought."

She didn't respond to that more than a nod. She never took the topic seriously, but then she already proved to have a well of heroic patience anyway.

Luke smiled more.

"Where were you?" She asked gently.

"CIC bunker," he told her. "Vanech gave us the drawings."

She eyed him with shock, and maybe a little insult. "Why didn't you comm me?"

"You were having a good time." He met her eyes as he took another bite.

She took that in and absorbed the respect of it. "One of these days we're going to have to attend a party together, y'know."

"Soon." He said, smiling fresh, teasing her with it now. "Not yet."


	25. LL5 24 THREE — Death

**Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!**

Nik shuddered as the electricity left his fingertips, but he felt better when it was over. He took a deep breath and met Moff Jakobi's firm stare with his own. "My name is Darth Tovecus. Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion I gain Strength. Through Strength I gain Power. Through Power I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. Long live the Palpatine Empire. "

"Very good, my lord." Moff Jakobi nodded as if the man had just given him an order. "Now I must speak with you about something terribly out of place. I understand you've been coercing I2 to refrain from your nightly medications."

Nik's eyes shifted around the suite still trying to remember where he was. "My name is . . ." He shook his head. "What medications?"

Jakobi didn't answer. His mouth was a scowl.

Nik blinked hard and searched the place. Gray. Dark Blue. Red Guards. Silver droids. He was supposed to be looking for something. What was he supposed to be looking for? His eyes focused on Jakobi and reared back at the anger emitting from the man. "What's your problem?"

To that, Jakobi broke the stare and nodded at a guard. Two Red Guards stepped to each side of Nik and grabbed him hard by the arms. This was a first. Nik struggled against the capture. "What the hell?"

The Grand Moff didn't answer. He gestured someone to go ahead. N4 came at him with the voicecap. Twin needles stung as they slid into his skin and rested on either side of his voice box. He tried to talk but his voice was missing entirely.

The helmet covered Nik's face, and this time the visor was blocked. He couldn't see anything.

 _No! My name is . . . my name is . . . what the fuck is my name?!_

The guards dragged him ahead by the arms, practically picking him off the ground to yank him out of the suite. Nik struggled against it and tried to yell. He tried to remember his name. He tried to think of what he was supposed to remember. He struggled hard and fought against the handling, but the vice grips squeezed harder at every jerk. His feet tripped down a hallway and into a lift, then out again and down another hallway.

Nik tried to ask. He wanted to speak the words so they would stop. He mentally begged for forgiveness, but he couldn't remember the medication to which Jakobi referred. _My name is. . . Darth something. Nik Darth? Darth Nik?_

The dragging stopped him. . . . and the helmet came off.

Nik searched the round room quickly, white walls, several droids, Jakobi. Was that medical equipment? Brown eyes bulged as a large circular pool opened up in the floor in front of him. The liquid inside was almost black, rippling thickly.

Nik aimed pleading eyes to Jakobi and tried to talk. He could hardly whisper. _"Please. My name is . . ."_ but he couldn't think of the name.

"These rules were placed for your protection, for your _growth_." Jakobi scowled, "But you're no use to me if you don't work with me."

"Please."

With that, Jakobi flicked his chin at the guards and stepped away. "Make sure the entire body is dissolved."

"What? Wait!" Nik tried to yell in his whisper. He tried to fight it, but the guards held him firm. A coreman stepped up wearing a white mask and began to unbutton Nik's tunic. Nik tried to plead with the medical stormtrooper. "Please don't do this. I'll do anything you want. Tell him I'll do anything."

The med trooper didn't seem to notice he was speaking. Other hands came to his aid from behind, unceremoniously stripping off Nik's clothes. Shoes. Socks. Undershirt. Pants. Underwear. Rough hands removed every stitch from his skin.

Nik was too frightened to be embarrassed by his nakedness. As soon as they were finished stripping him, the guards dragged him to the side of the pool. His struggled to press backwards but his bare feet slipped against the white floor. Med troopers wrapped clamps around his ankles, and Nik saw how the clamps attached to cables reaching into the depths of the black pool.

They pulled out his voicecap, and Nik screamed against the sore throat. "I don't know how to swim. What is that shit? I don't know how to swim!"

That didn't seem to matter to them. The guards picked him up by the arms and dropped him into the ink.

PANIC!

Nik reached out with both arms and feet, but the clamps on his ankles pulled him farther down into the dark soup. His hand could find no walls. His feet touched no bottom. And his eyes were losing sight of the lights and white room with several feet of black liquid overhead. He held his breath but didn't really know how. The liquid was warm and soft on his skin even as he fought it. It burned his eyes a little, but that passed quickly. Arms and legs waved and reached through the muck to get a grip on _anything_. He stared up at the hint of brightness above like it was his last hope.

 _Brightness_.

The lid slid over the top of the pool, severing him from that too.

 _Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!_ His lungs screamed to breath. His heart beat like a rabbit. His fingers found nothing. His ankles yanked against the clamps holding him down. His arms slowed. His eyes stared at darkness. His mouth demanded oxygen.

Involuntarily, Nik sucked in a deep breath.

Pain slammed into his lungs. He choked and vomited, but what came out was only what went in. His body convulsed, instinctively drawing another breath. Wide eyes teared. He jerked like a dying fish.

 _Gina_. . . . He cried in his mind. _Ben_. . . . But he knew they couldn't hear him. He was alone. So very alone. This was not how Nik wanted to die.

The convulsions began to calm. His lungs stopped trying for air. His eyes stared at blackness. He couldn't feel the warm liquid anymore.

With his last available thought, he thought as desperate and as hard as he could . . . _Kay Kay, tell them I love them._

Twin suns began brighten over the Dune Sea just as he blacked out.


	26. LL5 25 Panic and Anger

Kess dropped the hydrospanner with an echoing clatter and gripped her chest.

The panic on the Force was a fast flash from nothing, and then blotted itself out again. Did she hear a voice? Something was wrong.

She pulled to her feet and held the bulkhead, trying to sense out. It was panic. Desperate, pleading, horrible panic. But it was gone now. She used the bulkhead to help her balance through to the main bay.

Han glanced— and glanced again, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I just—" Why did it feel like she had water in her lungs? "I just need a minute." She stumbled down the ramp.

Outside the _Falcon_ , Rogue Group was hard at work. Kess looked around for the source of the panic, for hints that someone nearby had just died, but everyone was still deep in their business. She needed to meditate.

Her boots rushed fast across the deck for the locker room and disappeared.

Han stepped down the ramp with knitted brows aimed at her back. Wedge and Ashten caught a glimpse of Kess rushing away to hide. They saw her move like that only once before. Kayla began to climb up from her project at the other end of the Pad.

Wedge looked back to find Han's uncertain worry, and he hopped fast down the ladder. He ordered Ashten, "Stay here."

Ashten watched with concern. "Aye, sir."

Wedge stepped quickly into the locker room and found Kess pacing the floor with tight arms knotted at her chest. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know. I don't know." She stuttered quickly, big eyes shaking her head at the floor. "Something. . . something happened. I-I don't know."

Wedge stepped to her, palms up in calming. "Hey. Stop. Look at me. What's the matter?"

Kess found his eyes but hers were wide with terror. "Someth— I-I." She covered her mouth with both palms and cussed in her own panic. _"Nik!"_ Kess dove into Wedge's chest, with her palms still over her mouth, she cried. "I think they killed Nik."

Wedge put his arms loosely around her and tried to mutter her to hush and relax, but even as he did this, his head turned to look out the open door of the locker room. Han was already in the doorway, with Ashten and Kayla behind him.

"Luke," Wedge mouthed with no voice. "Now."

Han nodded and stepped back to the Pad only enough to pull his comlink out of earshot. Kayla rushed in and patted Kess's head from behind.

Wedge petted her upper arms. "It's gonna be okay. Luke's coming, alright? Calm down. It's gonna be okay."

Kess shuddered against his khakis. "It's not okay." She cried into his breast. _"It's not okay!"_

Wedge put his arms around her a little more but he tried to be respectful about it. He and Kayla eyed each other with concern, then Wedge closed his eyes and rested his mouth against Kess's hair. "Shh. I've got you."

They were still like that when Luke rushed in—

—and stopped short.

Wedge got whiplash at the new arrival and yanked his arms away from the woman. "She thinks they killed Nik."

Luke stepped over and took her arm, trying to get her to look at him. "Hey. What happened? Did you sense something?"

She was still shuddering and now tears leaked down her face. "Panic. It was panic." Her voice quivered. "And I think he . . . I think he tried to tell me something. But it's gone. He's not there."

Luke shot a hard glance at Wedge and took command of the woman. He wrapped his arms further around her for a tight hold and then ushered her to the nearest bench. "Come on, sit down."

He got her to sit down and squatted in front of her feet, ducking his head to try to get her to meet his eyes. His voice was gentle. "Tell me what you felt. Anything you heard."

She shook her head at the air. "Panic. Afraid to die. And then . . . resolved to die." Her eyes found Luke's and tears squirted. "They killed him."

Luke lowered to his knees and took her hands to place her palms together, holding them there with his own. "Calm down. Clear your head. Find your peace. You can't sense anything if your upset."

Wedge, Han, and Kayla still stood behind them in the locker room, and now Ashten and Seidrik and Rogan and Seth were at the door with concern too. Half the crew was out there wondering what had happened. They were all trying to catch glimpses through the angle of the doorway.

Her throat shook. "But what—

"But nothing," Luke said. "Find your peace."

Obedient, even in despair, Kess closed her eyes and reined in control of herself. All watched as she breathed hard and forced, grimacing behind pinched lips to raise her face and sit up with borrowed strength.

Luke let her hands slip from his but he stayed close anyway, putting a palm on her knee to keep her tethered, watching her every expression. "Reach out and find it again. Remember it. See if you can get the details of what happened."

Kess shuddered slower now, shaking in a deep breath and followed the command.

Luke closed his eyes and dropped his face to sense out too.

"Drowning." She said distantly. "He was drowning. And then. . . ."

Her eyes flashed open with a hard cough. She wrapped her forearm around her mouth and curled over in heaves for breath.

Luke opened his eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. She hacked and coughed and held her head as she tried to sit up again. Her body swayed like she was dizzy. Her eyes were giant brown marbles. Her mouth opened with a stop of air . . . .

And she suddenly smiled, coughing a laugh as she began to breathe again. "Oh shit, he's pissed!"

"What?"

But she continued to cough like it was she who had been drowning, but wasn't now. Her eyes spun in their sockets, but a wry humor was growing on her face. "My brother is so pissed!" She held Luke's shoulder in front of her to keep her steady and began to breathe freely now. Her smile grew. She shook her head. "If they were trying to turn him, they just succeeded."

"What happened?"

"He thought he was drowning." She swallowed hard and recovered. "But they must've pulled him out of it. There was nothing, and then there was . . . air, and then _anger_."

Luke stretched his neck to look over his shoulder at Han and Wedge.

"They're torturing him," Han murmured despondently.

Luke rose to his feet and pulled her up by the hands. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere quieter."

"What fo— why?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to lead her out, eyeing Wedge with warning once more as he left. "So you can meditate hard and try to reach out to him. Come on."

Without a glance at any of the collected crowd that watched them, Luke guided her out by the shoulders and waved down the nearest runner.

* * *

Nik vomited into the sky. Warm black syrup splattered all over his face. He coughed and found air. He choked out some more of the crap and sucked in a big breath. His naked body cooled in its wetness on flat metal. Arms were pinned away by the wrists. Legs pinned down at the ankles. He was splayed as spread eagle as this metal bed could afford. The ceiling was a white dome lit with blinding lights.

 _Brightness_.

Nik raged a tremendous scream of wrath.

Jakobi strolled over just inside the stretch of his vision, but Nik didn't look at him. He stared back at those blinding lights above and yelled as loud as his taxed lungs and razor throat would allow. " _MY NAME IS NIKOLAI LENDRAAAAAAA!"_ His voice echoed against the walls long after the growl was done.

Jakobi waited.

Nik heaved fast breath, but the breath was air. His skin was cold, but he could feel cold. He could wiggle his toes. He could flex his fingers. He could remember Gina, and Ben. . . and Grandpa. . . .

He turned his eyes to huff with stiff anger at Jakobi and repeated it again to the man's face. " _Nikolai!. . . . Lendra!_ "

Jakobi seemed to grin a little to that. He turned away and ordered the droids as he walked out. "Clean and dress his lordship, if you please. And let us hope he'll think twice about countermanding my orders next time."

A hundred hands wiped his body with cloth and yanked him off the metal bed. Shuddering in the shock of his after-panic, Nik's muscles fell flat. His fortitude liquefied.

They dressed him in a simple robe and covered his head with the blind helmet, but this time, he didn't struggle when they dragged him back to the prison suite.

He flopped back into the chair in which they forced him to sit. Fingercaps slid onto his left hand and N4 grabbed his right. He waited for the

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!**

Nik threw up again. He shook as cloths wiped his face. He shuddered until electricity left his fingertips, but he felt better when it was over.

"Say it."

Nik panted weakly at the floor. His hands dropped as soon as they let him go. He whispered in defeat. "My name is Darth Tovecus. Peace is a. . . ." He opened his eyes to the air.

. . . _there is peace_.

"Uh, a lie." He swallowed and opened his eyes wider. He muttered inconsistently. "There is only Passion." He saw the light of the sun angle a polygon shine against the dark blue tapestry on the wall.

 _There is no ignorance. . ._

He blinked. "Through Passion I gain . . . Serenity."

"What?" Jakobi snapped.

. . . _there is the Force._

He knew that voice! It was _her_ voice! His eyes turned to the sunlight coming through the far balcony windows and he remembered twin suns. "Through death I. . . I gain the Force."

Jakobi barked. "N4, get him a glass of water."

Nik turned his face up to Jakobi, mouth open, eyes understanding. He spoke the mantra that leaked into his brain, telling to Jakobi like he was correcting the man. "My name is Nikolai Lendra. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there—

N4 offered over a tall cool glass of clear water. It looked delicious. Nik took it in his fist, stared at it for a beat, then looked at Jakobi.

And grimaced his face to an angry snarl and _threw_ it at him!

Jakobi ducked but the water splashed all over his gray uniform.

Nik leapt to his feet and lunged at the body, slamming the Grand Moff against the wall until he coughed. Gloved hands already tried to grab him from behind, but Nik was moving too fast for them to get a grip. His forearm pressed Jakobi's neck and didn't care if he crushed the man's throat while his other arm slammed a fist into the man's face, over and over and over and over and—

A hand caught his wrist and held it back. Nik struggled to pound Jakobi more. He kneed the Grand Moff in the balls and pounded downward with another blow from his left hand as they dragged him away.

Jakobi curled over and spat blood from his mouth.

Nik stepped back into the restraining hands and watched the man go down. "You want me to turn to the dark side? Fine!" Nik shouted even as he saw the voice cap come around again, and shouted louder. "But I'm going to turn to the dark side ON YOU!"

Twin needles. Razors in his throat. No voice, only whispers. But he breathed air, and he grinned sickly at Jakobi's broken mouth.

 _"Fucker,"_ he whispered harshly, eyes flaring with defiance.

Jakobi snatched a stunstaff from a Red Guard, wrapped it both palms, and swung at Nik's head like his head was a baseball.

Nik passed out so fast he never felt the blow.

* * *

Kess opened her eyes.

And Luke opened his too.

They sat side by side on her squeaky bunk, facing each other. Luke sensed Nik a little, but Kess sensed him so much more. "We gotta go," she whispered.

"I know. We're going."

"We gotta go _now_."

"We can't go until the fleet is ready."

"They turned him. Luke, we've gotta go!" She scrambled into his lap and buried her face in his shoulder.

Luke held tight and murmured into her neck. "Soon. We're going soon. He'll hold out until then. He's strong. Find your peace." And he whispered it with the attempt to find his own.


	27. LL5 26 TWO — Tomorrow

There was never a final call from the high command, never a singular order, but the individual tasks made it clear to everyone what was happening.

Kess braved another visit to the hotel and gave her father a big hug, but she didn't explain why.

Luke set down the empty shipping crate in the middle of his living room floor and sighed at the piles of Jedi records.

Wedge downloaded everything from Pad 14 terminal onto industrial sized datacards and started a system wipe.

Green Group launched into the air in pairs and disappeared into the daylight.

Han transferred the Temple layout onto portable datareaders.

Leia supplied Winter with Regrets For Missing The Meeting notices.

Crix stood on the side of the grassy quad to yell, "Forward! _MARCH_!" and watched as the rank and file stepped forward in unison and into the gullet of the transport.

Black Group launched into the air in pairs and disappeared into the daylight.

Kess meditated to try to reach Nik, but he wasn't out there.

Chewie unplugged the fuel line and closed down the port with a firm thrust.

Ashten handed a datacard to Kayla with severity, and Kayla nodded, fishing her own Just In Case letter from a pocket and traded it back.

Yana powered down the comm unit and yanked it away from the CIC bunker wall, shoving it down the hall on its wheels with a half a dozen other admins rolling similar gear into the same airlift.

Joanne watched from the traffic tower as Blue Group launched into the air in pairs and disappeared into the evening.

Rieekan commed his elderly mother 'for no reason'.

Werdun left on a civilian transport.

Vanech asked Luke where he had been. Luke told him training was on hold until further notice.

Kess screwed the panel back onto the _Falcon's_ navcomputer and dropped the tool into her bag with finality.

South Base commerce drank in dwindling business. Clothes engorged seabags. Fresh food shattered diets. Lights went out. Barracks emptied. Routines ended. Sleep evaded.

Mon Mothma concluded the senate meeting with a sincere, "May the Force be with you all."

* * *

Kess stepped down from the _Falcon_ ramp to find the Pad 14 lights were already out for the night. The place was a ghost town. Twelve fighters slept in two rows along the walls. Even the droids were switched off at their charging stations. The only light still on was coming from the manager's office.

Filthy and hot, she unzipped her flight suit half way and tied the arms around at her waist. Her tank top was sweaty and stuck uncomfortably to her skin. "One thing's for sure," she said as she dropped her shoulder to the doorframe. "I'm not going to miss this humidity."

Wedge grinned at his desk. "Wimp."

Most of the equipment was gone already. The rest was packed away in crates out on the deck. She looked over the desks that were once hers, once his, once Luke's . . . Her eyes landed on the wingman and boyfriend's best friend behind the big desk. Wedge was checking the drawers for anything else worth taking.

"Gonna miss it?" He asked.

"Yeah." She smiled at herself and nodded to look at it all. "Yeah, I am." Hands in her pockets, she turned to go. "You?"

"Meh," he shrugged, smiling out the truth of the lie as he shut off the office lights. "Just another duty station."

Kess would have called him a liar, but she didn't have to.

They strolled together out of the office and toward the travelway, but then both paused to look over Pad 14 once more. With everyone home making love to their partners for possibly the last time, the Complex was truly empty of souls.

"Can't believe it's only been a couple of years," he said.

"It was a good posting."

"Except for the humidity," he teased.

Kess looked at him now, realizing the real goodbye here wasn't at the _place_. Her body rippled with an odd wave of nerves, but she shook it off. "So what are your big dreams when this thing is over?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "we'll see." He smiled at her again, shifting his feet. "After all this, I don't think I could last in any job that wasn't behind a fighter stick."

She gave him a knowing nod. "I concur." She paused to think of her answer to the same question and found she didn't have one ready.

"Oh, lady, I _know_ what you're going to do." Wedge shook his smiling face. "You don't have to answer."

Kess dashed her head aside.

His voice softened with pride. "Just promise me you'll invite me to the wedding."

Her mouth opened but words stumbled on her shock. "Oh. Uh." She laughed nervously. "I don't think he's ready for that yet." She shrugged bashfully. "It's only been a couple of weeks."

Wedge eyed her with a gentle correction. "No, Kess. It's been a couple of _years_."

Kess humbled.

He spread his arms to offer a goodbye hug. Kess grinned and wrapped her arms around his sides, hugging the stuffing out of him, and pulled back to separate and smile at the man. "Don't get shot—

She had whispered it automatically before she realized what she said. She smiled to play like it was a joke, even if Wedge didn't get the reference.

Wedge looked at her in melancholy. "You take care of yourself, huh?" He let her go.

She nodded, thoughtful, agreeing, and stepped back. "May the Force be with you."

"You too."

They paused.

They both breathed big again and nodded, and turned away from each other.

Kess aimed her feet to the barracks and walked, but each step reminded her of what was about to happen. They were about to leave Yavin forever. They were about to split up into several fleets on hundreds of ships to travel for several days. They were about to attack the Capital Planet of Coruscant in a final, decisive advance. There would be losses, heavy ones. And when it was all over, whatever survived of the Rebellion would be smeared across the galaxy, securing key stations to prevent the whole long story from repeating itself.

At her sixth step, Kess realized that, even if he lived, there was good chance she would never see Wedge Antilles again.

"Wait. Wedge?"

In a split decision, with zero forethought or warning, Kess turned on her heals and trotted back for him. It took only three steps to reach him for he matched her return with equal fervor. She expected her intent was to give him another giant hug, old friends squeezing tight goodbyes. And they did, but there was more to it than that. Like two magnets finding each other for the first time, she jumped in his arms and found herself snugly captured. His palm went to her braids and his mouth landed on hers. The surprise kiss struck like a visceral gong.

Mouth pressed to mouth in equal shock, unmoving until the reverberations calmed. His thumb brushed her cheek as he retreated. Her mouth paused open as she eyed his chin. Embarrassed, uncertain, and now breathless in confusion, they began to retreat from each other—

 _What did we just do?_

She looked up at his brown eyes. With equal shock, he looked down at hers.

This time they did it on purpose.

Kess wrapped her arms around him and reached up the same time Wedge took her face and took her mouth, full of purpose, strong and direct, as if he'd considered the details of this moment already. His kiss was different, his tongue stronger, more detailed, less tender. This pilot knew what he wanted. He knew how to get it. And he knew exactly what he'd do with it if it ever happened.

But his mouth drifted away and hung open with a breath of shock. He had also decided, long ago, that he'd left this target for someone else. Wedge eyes closed in a self-scolding, then he licked his lips as he retreated some more. He met her gaze again. And the momentary fantasy sobered from his eyes.

Kess rubbed her lips too, smiling with agreement. Without a word, she understood it entirely. She thumbed his lips and his chin and nodded as she slipped her arms from him. Wedge slowly let go and nodded imperceptibly too. He inhaled hard and took a big step back.

Wedge's brown eyes kept hers for a long moment and, finally, he forced a smile. His strong voice echoed across the dark empty deck in one last, loving order. "You take good care of him."

"I will." She nodded, shaking in her sigh, and tried to smile back. He continued to walk backwards while keeping her eyes. She pressed her fingers to her kissing mouth. Wedge swallowed a harsh throat and gestured the same brief blowing kiss . . . as he turned his back to her and forced himself to trot fast away.

She vaguely backed up to her own direction, but watched him jog away around the travelway until he was no longer in sight. Tears appeared like solitary diamonds on her eyelashes. She didn't give her conscious imagination permission to blossom with too many What Ifs, but she did grin through her tears as she marched back to her own side of life. She permitted her mind know one thing with certainty.

If it hadn't been Luke, it would have been Wedge.

* * *

Kess walked home still thinking about it. It didn't need explaining, but it would have been difficult to explain it to anyone else. Such was a common occurrence on the Last Day Before The Battle in which they were all prepared to die.

This was a story best left untold. Because this story wasn't going to go anywhere.

She wondered if Wedge found the chance to give the same goodbye kiss to Yana, or if he was saving such a moment for a real hello on the hope that they would both live long enough to have one. Yana was a private woman. She didn't share such hopes as openly as the rest of the girly girls, but that only made her open flirting at the barbecue that much more of an impacting statement. Kess liked the idea of the two of them together. They didn't know it yet, but they were perfect for each other. She was the librarian, the bookworm, the data cruncher. And he was long calmed from his Young Pilot High and, as he put it, 'ready to land'. Kess could easily see them both assigned to the Capital once this whole thing was over; her stationed as an operative in whatever new CIC bunker / data library the Alliance would set up there, and him stationed nearby as the Commander of their Flag Ship Squadron to stand boring watches and defend the new government at all costs. It was perfect.

Now all they had to do was live.

Once Kess got home, Yana was done packing and Joanne was finishing up, both somber through the final tasks of it. Kess stopped her feet in the middle of the barracks floor and just looked at the two of them.

Joanne stood from her half-stuffed seabag and grinned back. She spread her arms and stepped over for a big hug. Yana joined a moment later, adding to the group hug, pressing all three foreheads together with silent wishes and prayers.

Sniffing but forcing smiles, they parted.

Joanne said it first. "May the Force be with you, girly girls."

Yana and Kess muttered it too, adding, "See you on the other side."

With that, and to keep the sorrow goodbye from dipping any deeper, Kess grabbed her own already packed seabag and left her barracks suite for the last time.

She saw Luke in the big CIC Bunker meeting earlier today, but they had only focused only on the final planning of their surgical attack. She was now able to imagine more of the details around rescuing Nik, and she rubbed the locket at her breast to pray over it. Luke would fly in with Rogue Group and Kess would ride in on the _Falcon_ , each taking a different route to land planetside. They'd see each other again at the rendezvous point a few blocks from the base of the Palace, but they would already be too deep into battle for hellos (assuming they were both still alive by that point). Her stomach tightened in the fear of it. That part was still days away because of the time they'd spend in hyperspace, but it felt like the whole thing was going to happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow. . . .

With stuffed seabag on her shoulders, she thumbed Luke's apartment chime—simultaneous to Luke thumbing the control to slide the door open.

For a beat, they just stared at each other.

Kess ran into his arms and Luke was already kissing her when he reached up to shut the door behind her.

It was a night of slow lovemaking and little conversation. There was no giggling, no questions, no discussion of plans; just silence and sweet sadness. A night of hope and prayer, with tight hugs and desperate cuddling. Kess imagined the whole base was doing this same thing right now, for those that had a partner with which to do it. She grasped onto gladness that, no matter what tragedies commenced over the next few days, at least she and Luke were free to have this moment.

Luke stared into her eyes with equal depth. He kept opening his mouth to speak but always closed it again in defeat. So he just kissed her some more and made love to her again, and held her hard like he was going to never let her go.


	28. LL5 27 ONE — Hit it

_All pilots to your stations_. . .

Rogue Group was one of the last squadrons to leave. The place was alive with activity. As soon as they arrived on Pad 14, Luke and Kess split apart and dove in to help. The _Falcon_ hummed and half the fighters whined at the ready. Wedge managed everything beautifully and soon directed Luke into the locker room to get changed. Han saw it and quickly told Kess to load up anything she could fit into the cargo bay so the _Falcon_ could help ship out as much as they could.

Then Han split off and trotted over to the locker room too.

Luke wasn't the only one in there zipping up the red-orange envirosuit over his day clothes, so Han waited on the side until the kid finished wishing his old crew safety and success. Luke glanced at Han as turned back to the locker to don the oxygen unit too. "Everything ready?"

"Yeah, we'll head up right after you."

Luke nodded and adjusted the white unit over his shoulders. "Keep an eye on Vanech. Especially around Kess."

Han nodded severely, but he didn't leave.

Luke continued to prepare. He glanced again, "What?"

"There's something we want you to carry during this thing," Han said.

Luke's brows twitched.

Han fished something out of his pocket and stepped over to show it in his open palm. He dropped his shoulder against the nearby locker and explained in a murmur. "It's from both of us. We weren't sure if you were thinking about it, but Leia says it doesn't matter. You'll use it when the time is right."

At first, Luke didn't recognize what it was. It was a raw lump of off-white, like a rock, about the size of a tranton grape. He picked up in his fingers to look closer. It was a knot of naked Tatooine bone.

He smiled big at Han.

"It's a reminder," Han told him. "You have to get through this in one piece because you have a more important mission after it."

Luke clasped it in his fist and nodded an ear-to-ear smile of thanks. "So do you."

Han grinned and nodded too, and slapped a palm on Luke's shoulder as he left.

* * *

Artoo climbed happily into his socket and got comfortable, ready for adventure. Once he was secure, Kess climbed down the ladder again so she could board the pilot too. She was all business, not letting the hard truth of this event distract her with worry. It still took her aback when Luke came out of the locker room dressed in an envirosuit like the good old days.

But Luke wasn't looking at her. At the end of the Pad, a small group of civilians stood by to watch the launch. And it wasn't just any civilians; it was Wubak with a cameraman and a producer.

Luke stopped his feet and gestured just as Leia was rushing up. "What the hell are they doing here?"

Leia rested her hand on his forearm and looked up with serious eyes. "It's time."

"Time for _what_?"

Leia stared up at him with severity.

Luke rolled his head on his neck in disbelief.

 _"It's the signal,"_ Leia told him.

Luke's eyes changed. He looked over at Wubak standing in the distance with her camera and back to Leia. "Plan Cresh."

Leia nodded.

Luke understood. He gave her a hug pulled away with a nod. "See you there," he whispered, and let her go.

He didn't like using this as a tool, but he had to admit the plan was brilliant. His eyes scraped over the pilots climbing into their ships, the repair crew hard at work to ready the craft, looked hard at Wedge, but the man was busy managing the whole mess with skill. . . .

He nodded to himself as he finished his walk to _Five_ , now only seeing the beautiful grease monkey standing by the bottom of the ladder waiting to board him.

 _It's time._

As he approached, Kess met his eyes with a tight grin and sighed quickly. "Don't get shot."

Luke didn't answer. He took her face with both hands and pulled her face in for a kiss.

Leia smiled big. Han chuckled. Ashten blinked back.

Luke wrapped his arms around her body kissed her deeper. Kess dropped the helmet to rattle and roll along the deck and grabbed his body instead.

Eyes whipped over. Helmets paused in greasy hands. Pilots applauded from their cockpits. Wedge . . . grinned with success.

And Wubak caught the perfect vidcap.

Luke pulled away but didn't look at anyone else. He whispered it under his breath. "I love you too."

She was _radiating_.

But now he worked to shrug off the embarrassment of it as he climbed up into the cockpit. The crowd gurgled with shock and awe at the display, as expected. Luke took deep breaths to get his mind back to business, and Kess climbed up the ladder behind him to plug his suit into life support.

 _Five_. Check. Lightsaber. Check. Artoo. Check. Girl. . . . His eyes shined up through the yellow visor. _Check._

Kess gave him one last hopeful smile, and shimmied down the ladder.

The speaker at his ear sounded like Seidrik was yelling. "Control. Rogue Flight. Rogue Three and Five ready for launch. . . .

* * *

"All craft prepare for hyperspace." Admiral Ackbar swung around his captain's seat of the _Mon Alderbaran_ and checked the last of the status, then called into his mike. ". . . _Hit it."_

They waited until Mon Mothma strapped firmly into her chair, and the _Mon Odelbom_ hit it.

Olive drab ground troops strapped into seats five abreast, still filed the same order as when they marched in, Madine sat down in the cockpit when he heard the order. "Hit it."

Kess buckled herself into the back seat, with Vanech strapped into the seat beside her, and watched Chewie's furry hands racing across the controls ahead. Han reached for the lever, and the _Millennium_ _Falcon_ hit it.

Leia closed both palms around her belly and watched the still stars until the _Intrepid_ hit it.

Joanne strapped in a bulk transport and dozens of bodies chattering around her, she ripped off the bandage from her wrist that covered the last burn scar. She looked out the window and saw the gold and green moon below, the one she almost lost her life to save, and watched it streak into nothing when the transport hit it.

Crammed tightly into their big leather chairs of the ready room of the _Mon Icarus_ , still dressed in their enviro-suits, all twelve pilots of Rogue Group waited in silence for what felt like a very long time. Wedge sat in the chair next to Luke. And Luke could sense the man's emotions as a stiff but controlled ball of twine.

In the continued waiting, Luke unzipped the fly of his enviro-suit and reached into the pocket of his street clothes underneath. He pulled out the knot of bone Han had given him.

Wedge glanced over.

Then Luke reached back into his pocket and pulled out the second knot of bone he'd already bought.

He fidgeted with both not-yet-wedding-lockets in the real flesh of his left palm.

He knew Wedge was watching, trying to figure out what the things were, but the man didn't say anything.

Luke felt an uncontrollable need to get it out in the open.

He spoke with quiet tension as his eyes absorbed the meaning behind both pieces of bone. "You're my best friend," Luke said, then he looked up to meet the other man's eyes. "But if you kiss her again I'm going to kill you."

Wedge's eyes hardly struck with shock, but he recovered fast and added distant nod, keeping Luke's gaze with strength and honor. "Copy that."

Stomachs flipped when the carrier ship _hit it_.

* * *

Stars in the day? It didn't make any sense. He watched the sky with confusion as the meteor shower to streaked _backwards._ One by one, glistening dots stroked away to disappear into the sky.

But the birds sang in the trees and the wind blew like it was supposed to. There was no sense of impending doom. In fact, the jungle delighted in a deeper sense of calm and freedom. All of the big creatures were gone. From the whole of this earth.

So, the brown and pink bug crawled back on top of the fallen log, settled himself in a glorious beam of sunlight, and gladly began to eat.


	29. LL5 28 Two Lockets

Meditation cleared his head but it didn't help with the waiting. There were three places for pilots to hang out during a trip like this: the berthing deck, the galley, and the ready room. That was it. Otherwise they were underfoot of carrier operations. Sometimes they found their way to the hanger deck, but were often shooed away by the repair crew. Shipboard hangar decks didn't provide nearly as much space to move around as any planet-side hangar deck, so the pilots accepted that hangar decks were repair territory.

If he hung out in the galley, he'd be affronted with questions about that goodbye kiss he gave Kess in front of everybody. He wasn't ready for that. If he hung out in the ready room, he'd be surrounded by pilots telling tall tales of their exploits and would be expected to share his too. He wasn't ready for that either. So Luke got comfortable hiding in his bunk in berthing. His was second up from the deck, with bunks stacked five high, and probably got that choice spot because of his former rank as a Group Commander. He didn't care. It was actually kind of annoying because second bunks were right level with the faces of people passing by. If he left his curtains open, people tended to stop by and chat.

Instead, Luke rolled over onto his stomach with curtains closed tight and considered borrowing a book to read. He could pull out the sketches of Coruscant and go over the plan one more time, but he already had it memorized enough. If he focused on it too much, it would inhibit the mental malleability of adapting to unforeseen obstacles. Luke remembered he had a new project on which to spend his time. He rolled to his side and dug into his pocket, and pulled out both the lump of Tatooine bone Han and Leia had given him and the lump of Tatooine bone he'd bought for himself.

Luke shoved the pillow under his elbows to help keep his upper body hovering so he could fidget with them. He melted down onto the pillow until he buried his chin and mouth in it. He fidgeted white knots in his fingers, staring at them, staring at what they meant, staring at what it was for. At first, he warmed by the gesture that Han and Leia would get one. It meant they were ready to have Kess as family, but they were also trying to tell him not to do anything stupid on this mission. Just because he had a third Jedi in the works didn't mean he was disposable.

Not that he felt he was, but it was a nice gesture.

He remembered the wedding locket Kess was wearing right now. It was hard to imagine Obi Wan Kenobi as a married man. He never saw the old geezer with a woman that would fit such a position. But somehow it wouldn't surprise him if he had. Ben was a good man. For all he went through, especially now that Luke understood more of _what_ he went through, Luke felt Old Ben deserved to have a secret safe harbor of his own.

The naked white rocks rolled between his fingers.

A wedding locket.

The depth of that idea made his stomach flip as if they'd just hit hyperspace. Was he ready for that? Was she? They'd only been dating for a month now. And missions stunted their progress for half of that time. Sex was still so new. She was still nervous how to act when they went out for a simple dinner date. He was still nervous how to show her affection in public. Sure, they'd known each other for over a year, and known each other from afar for much longer before that. But they'd really only been together for a month.

Still too there was the complication of his possession and jealousy. It was mild now, and decreasing further through meditation and thinking things through, but it was still there. His biggest worry was the truth that he didn't know what made Anakin turn to the dark side. Anakin broke the Code with Padmé. Was it that simple? Or was there more? Sure, Palpatine stuck his fingers in the mess too. But what was the final leverage?

Could he go without sex? Yes. Luke was too practiced at celibacy already. Now he'd _had_ sex (with another person), it would be a little more difficult to get used to, but he could do it.

Could he live without her? Well, yes, he'd have to _someday_. They weren't going to live forever. Those three days he thought she was dead were the most excruciating of his life, but it was an exercise in how to deal with it when the time really came.

He supposed the real question was if there would ever be anyone else. For him? For her? This first love business was well told, in fiction and non-fiction. He knew what to expect: the overwhelming feeling that this was 'it'. And, boy, did it! Everyone's first real love seems that way. And nearly everyone's first love eventually falls apart too. The infatuation fades in time, and what are you left with after? He considered waiting until the infatuation faded to see if there was anything still there.

'Not yet.' he kept telling her but, in secrecy, he had to admit the idea was crossing his mind more and more often. He hadn't thought it in terms of marriage, but he was having flashes of fantasy about sharing living quarters, about her pregnant with his children, about being true partners all the way down to their DNA, back-to-back for whatever life threw at them. He liked the feeling those fantasies brought about. Alone together, with lighsabers set aside, whispering in the dark, admitting things he never told anyone else, things he never _imagined_ he'd ever tell anyone else, Luke recognized Kess had already become his safe harbor.

His eyes drooped closed. What he wouldn't give to have her in this bunk right now, just to hold her in his arms and meditate together. To hear her giggle at him for some stupid comment. To see her brown eyes grow big when she looked at him for guidance or protection. It made him feel invincible when she hid in his chest during a shaky moment; for him to whisper, 'I've got you'. It made him feel like a fumbling fool when she rolled on top and took command of the sex after he'd fallen out of beat. And nothing made him more vulnerable than those moments when she cradled his head to her neck and let him shudder in shock from that splash of ecstasy.

She had power. The power to make him feel all things big and small. The power to manipulate him if she wanted to, but she never used it. His eyes opened to the lockets in his fingers and he fidgeted with them some more.

 _Hers_ _because_ _she doesn't demand it_.

Home. Children. Partnership. All super big things. But when it came down to it, the true lure was that he couldn't imagine having a happy life without her.

Luke cupped the bone bits in his palm and opened several more cubbies until he found a sketchpad. He lifted back onto his elbows and set it down in front of him, placing the bones carefully on an empty space at the head of the bunk, side by side. One was larger; the other was smoother. He hadn't made any decisions yet—not really—but he let his openly mind brew on it.

Marriage.

He took out the stylus and started drafting some ideas of what the carving design could look like.


	30. LL5 29 Full Circle

"How are we looking?" Han leaned over the engineering chair tensely to read the same monitor Kess was looking at.

She smiled at what she saw. "Five by five, skipper. Right down the middle."

He gripped the back of her chair and gritted a hard smile of success.

Kess got out of the chair and faced him with a dutiful nod.

Han eyed her with deep appreciation. "I owe you a beer."

Kess chuckled it away and stepped to the game table to slouch down in the round bench. She noticed Vanech's eyes on her.

She angled her head the other way. "You need to stop staring at me now."

Vanech lifted his brows at the challenge. "And why is that?"

"Because it makes me uncomfortable," she said simply, adding with a smile, "and it's starting to piss me off."

Han still held the back of the engineering chair, but his humor was gone. "Vanech, I _will_ make you wait in your bunk the whole trip if I have to."

Vanech slid his eyes over at Han. "You and what army?"

A Wookiee barked.

Kess rubbed her lips. Han lifted his brows. Chewie stared in warning.

. . . . Vanech lowered his eyes and slowly climbed out of the bench, strolling silently to disappear down the port corridor.

Han cocked a grin at Kess.

"That wasn't necessary," she grinned, "but thanks."

Chewie lumbered over and slid into the game table to lounge back.

Han grinned at her once more and moved to the starboard corridor so he could take his watch.

Kess stared at Chewie and Chewie stared at Kess.

"Can I ask you something?" She said.

Chewie nodded with a grunt.

"You've been alive a long time. Two, three hundred years?"

Chewie nodded with a grunt.

"So you remember it all. When the Republic went down. When the Empire rose up."

Chewie nodded with a grunt and leaned forward, resting his furry elbows on the table. Blue eyes watched hers.

"Do _you_ think we can do this?"

Chewie angled his head, his eyes smiled, and he nodded with a grunt.

Envious, Kess shook her head. "How are you so confident?"

Chewie angled his head the other way, and a furry finger came out of his hand to point at her. He nodded in a slightly different, two-syllable grunt.

She didn't really need to get the datalink to know what he said. She smiled at the table, wishing she shared his optimism.

The big Wookiee climbed out of the table and went to the engineering station. Kess didn't really pay attention to him until he came back to her side and handed her a datalink.

She looked up as she took it, but Chewie grunted once more and walked away entirely.

Her eyes dropped to the little screen and read. It began with a Skywalker and a Kenobi. It will end that way too.


	31. LL5 30 Luke and Wedge — and Kayla

Luke was starving. He'd avoided the galley for all the harassing Rogue Group would give him, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He braced himself for the onslaught as he walked through the tight corridors, but managed to get his tray of food and sit down at an empty spot of a table receiving nothing more than hellos from various acquaintances.

Quietly trying to keep to himself, Luke stabbed into the overcooked vegetable salad and avoided eye contact with everyone. It worked until another tray slapped down on the table so hard the food bounced. Wedge threaded his legs onto the bench to sit opposite of him.

Luke peered up and tried not to glare. But he also tried not to grin.

"Took you long enough," Wedge said as he began to cut up his food.

Luke eyed him, in request and in warning, as he sipped his water. He turned his eyes back to his plate.

Wedge watched him in daring as he chewed down his first bite.

Luke dashed his head aside, "I waited until her training was over." He met Wedge's eyes with honesty. "Did you expect anything else out of me?"

"No. Course not. It just seemed like your asceticism lasted longer than the end of her training."

Luke nudged a piece of food out of his molar and shook his head. "It didn't."

Wedge's brow arched with disbelief.

"Is that why you shot at a target I already had locked?" He stabbed at his food. "Because you thought I froze?"

"I didn't shoot at your target, Luke." Wedge said in a low voice. "I never even aimed. And you know it."

Blue eyes angled up from under blonde eyebrows.

Wedge met the hard stare. "I'm sorry if it worried you." Wedge remained steadfast in his apology. "It won't happen again."

Untrusting, Luke pulled his eyes back down to his tray.

Wedge leaned over and thumb over his shoulder, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I've had _two_ girlfriends in the time it took you to train her. And I didn't need Jedi tricks to see the frustration you put her through. I ought to beat your ass for making her wait so long." Angry in his own right, Wedge stabbed at his food.

Luke chewed, distracted. His eyes watched Wedge's fork forcibly cut into the hockey puck of protein. He missed his best friend. He _needed_ his best friend right now. "I'm thinking about proposing when this thing is over."

Wedge's eyes shot up. His mouth parted in shock. Delight quickly swelled out of his Force Print. His smile spread. "Yeah?"

The man's emotional response was exactly what Luke needed to trust him again. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed, and began to smile that he admitted it before he consciously decided it. "Yeah."

Wedge sat up as he chewed, resting his fork hand on the table beside him, and nodded hard. "Good."

Luke's eyes turned up.

Kayla slid in beside Luke until she bumped him and squealed with secret glee. "Whatchyou two gabbing about over here?"

Both men turned their eyes to her and back to each other, sharing a slow blink of humored patience.

Wedge folded his elbows on the table in front of him and opened his mouth—

"Don't." Luke lifted a finger. Then thumbed over his shoulder at the woman nearly cuddling his side to poke her nose into their business. "She can't keep her mouth shut."

Wedge grinned big at Luke. "In some things she can," and those eyes shifted back to Kayla. "Apparently."

Kayla sat up with a smiling warning. "Now, now. Don't start something you can't finish, flyboy."

Wedge chuckled and pulled his elbows to return to his eating. His voice was carefully quiet. "That's 'Commander' to you now, _peaches_."

Luke's eyes flashed open. He looked at Wedge and over at Kayla. His mouth dropped open at the emotions he detected out of the two.

Wedge's eyes glanced up with a guilty grin.

Luke chortled, "Target acquired?"

"Nope." Wedge shoved a bite into his mouth and talked over his chewing. "Target _lost_."

"And _new_ target acquired," Kayla gave him a teasing smile back.

Wedge gave her a scolding eye to shut the fuck up, but Luke could sense his grinning.

"Who are you talking about?" Luke queried.

Kayla dropped her ear to Luke's shoulder and batted her eyelashes. "See? I can keep a secret."

Luke shook his head at her. "Not this big."

Her brows flicked.

Wedge ordered as friendly backup. "Leave it alone, Kayla. You'll hear it from the right person."

Luke kept his eyes on his plate, but he felt Kayla smile at the hint. She and Wedge drifted into a conversation about gossip amongst the ranks. Apparently, Rogan said something to Jewie to put her in a twist and Kayla told the Commander only because he needed to know a possible disconnect of teamwork was pending just before a firefight. Wedge listened and asked few questions about what she heard, then nodded her to shut about it and let him handle it.

"Did you see her before we left?" Kayla asked him as she ate.

Wedge's eyes lifted, shifted, and squinted. "Jewie's on board with us."

"I'm not talking about Jewie anymore, dummy."

Wedge closed his eyes.

Kayla murmured suggestively. "Kess could round up a double date when we get to Coruscant."

Wedge shook his head. "I don't need a wingman for that." He eyed Luke, "No offense."

Luke shrugged, more so because he still didn't know who they were talking about, but he paid attention for clues.

Kayla hid her quiet words by hovering her fork in front of her mouth before a bite. "So you gonna dive for it?"

Wedge swallowed carefully and whispered over. "She doesn't date pilots."

Yana! Luke thought, and began to grin. He had known Yana longer than any of the rest of that gang. Yana's 'rules' about not dating pilots were well told.

"That can be remedied," Kayla assured the man.

Luke watched, with his eyes and with the Force, to find Wedge considered this offer heavily, then squinted at Kayla out of the side of his eyes as if considering further her power to aid in the situation. . . .

The last of Luke's worry about Wedge and Kess promptly disintegrated.

Still, as a caring friend of them both, the man had a right to certain confirmations. Maybe if Wedge was assured that Luke didn't freeze, Wedge would be emboldened not to freeze himself.

Luke put his fork down and wiped his mouth. "Kayla, will you do me a favor?"

Her attention snapped over.

The Jedi stood from the table and motioned his chin over at Wedge. "Tell him what you know about Kess and me."

Kayla blinked in surprise.

"Convince him I didn't wait like he thinks."

Wedge grinned as Luke left, and Kayla launched into whispered diatribe behind Luke's back.


	32. LL5 31 Kenobi Patience

Kess moved into the same bunk to which she was assigned during the Frakkan mission, but now it was Vanech in the bunk a few paces away. She turned on the little corner light and settled in the blanket, but she wasn't ready to go to sleep yet. She meditated often, but it didn't help with the boredom of this flight. Her thoughts stumbled frequently into worrying about Nik almost as often as she remembered warm moments with Luke, but the difference was that she was almost forcing herself to think about Luke just so she didn't fret so much about Nik.

She wondered about the two of them, remembering that single afternoon when they met. Nik's original assumption that she was bringing a boyfriend home was nipped in the bud as soon as he realized who it was. Nik believed what she told him: all Jedi training, nothing more. He treated Luke with the appropriate respect and friendship of that position.

But they got along, and Kess liked that. If there was anyone she cared would welcome Luke into the family, it was Nik. The approval of Dad and Gina, and even little Ben, all paled in comparison. Luke promised he'd warm them up eventually. She wasn't sure if that was possible, but his effort towards that goal meant a lot. If only they could get Dad to quit drinking. If only they could convince Gina that being a Jedi wasn't so risky.

But Kess had to admit that it was. Their skills shoved them to the front lines too often. She went up alone to face Cheenan and Kadaan because of it. And now she and Luke were going to pierce the Imperial Palace alone to rescue Nik. Perhaps they could convince Gina that training Nik and Ben was safer than not training. If Nik had his Jedi skills honed into use already, the Empire likely would have never been able capture him in the first place.

Kess rolled onto her stomach in the bunk. She hid her face in the tiny pillow and tried meditate away her worry. At least they were on the move now. At least the waiting for action was over. _Hang in there, brother. I'm on my way._

She turned her mind deliberately to happy memories and fun fantasies. She remembered that day she and Nik drove out to Grandpa's sanctuary outside Pika Oasis to shovel sand away from his front door. He made the siblings sit down to watch the sunsets with him over glasses of cold water. They talked about the bigness of things and the smallness of things and how it all connected together. She imagined Grandpa probably hired Luke to help him with his ailing vaporator from time to time. She wondered what Luke was like as a teenager. She fantasized what would have happened if she and Luke accidentally met at that sanctuary, him an adventurous country mouse and her a city girl trying to prove herself, before they knew anything about anything. It wouldn't surprise her if old Obi Wan made careful efforts to prevent that meet-up from happening, but she grinned to imagine what Grandpa's reaction would have been to catch the two teenagers making out around the back of that little adobe building.

He kissed her. Right there on Pad 14. In front of everybody. And she smiled more to remember it. She imagined he was probably getting the full front of harassment about it from Rogue Group right now. Not that they didn't know, but they didn't 'know'. He kissed her in front of _everybody_. She wasn't expecting that at all. She was expecting the 'reserved Master' to wait until this whole thing was over so he could slide it in as a boring, passive comment somewhere amongst the bigger news of battle success.

But now the news was out. Kess was glad she didn't have to watch the resulting smear in the Newsnets, glad that media circus of it will be spent and replaced by battle news by the time she had to face a camera too. And afterwards? They would be able to shift the galactic conversation to the construction of a Jedi Academy. Vanech. Nik. Little Ben. Maybe even Leia. And Force knows who else was out there waiting for the Empire to end so they could step up to the Jedi plate too.

Her mind lingered on imaginings of her and Luke watching the construction of buildings on some foreign landscape, organizing foodstuffs together, and settling in to make themselves at home in a meditation chamber still smelling like new-dyed fabric and paint. Would he arrange for separate quarters for them? In the effort 'not to assume things he had no right to assume'? Only to end up never using one of them? Would they have any privacy when they made love on that fresh campus with a growing collection of novice Force users sensing their every orgasm?

She imagined Nik shouting loud from his quarters down the hall. "Would you two _quit_! I'm trying to sleep!"

Kess slammed her eyes shut and giggled into her pillow.

She fidgeted with the heirloom locket resting on her breastbone and glowed at these thoughts. She wondered, if it ever came, would hers come in the form of Tatooine wedding locket? There were so many traditions to choose from, but this one seemed to fit, even though neither of them subscribed to the religion and practices of the Sand People. Knowing Luke, he'd probably just ask her in passing after some stupid meeting. And knowing her, she'd still say 'yes' as if he'd just presented her with a Coruscant gem the size of a walnut.

But she sighed and controlled her hopes. She meditated away these fantasies because she already knew how frustratingly futile it was to try to rush Luke into anything he wasn't ready for. It took a year before Luke even introduced himself. It took another year before he told her he loved her. He probably wouldn't have kissed her in public before the launch if Leia hadn't politically pressured him to get the news over with.

Luke was _not_ in a hurry. So Kess settled herself in for a long wait.

After all, she did have the patience of a Kenobi.


	33. LL5 32 Group Project

Pilots chatted while playing poker a few bunks away, and it made a comfortable white noise above the hum of the ship. The drawing on Luke's little sketchpad ticked and dotted gradually into full detail, and he eyed the two lockets trying to figure out which one should receive it. He didn't want to disregard the invitation from Han and Leia, but he didn't want it to feel like it was their idea either. He put down the stylus and nudged the two pieces together on the bunk, comparing them side by side, and found they each had a relatively flat spot in which they almost fit together like puzzle pieces.

With a wistful smile, he grabbed them both in his palm and hopped out of the bunk.

He found Wedge hanging a hand on a laser cannon and looking up at Rogue Three while Kayla kicked back on one crate with her feet propped up on another to explain passively what she did. Luke shattered the conversation with his arrival.

"Hey," he shoved Kayla's feet off the second crate so he could sit in front of her. He showed her the two pieces of bone in his palm. "Do you have a way to fuse these together?"

Kayla sat up and Wedge bent over him to look. Kayla plucked one up by her fingers and curled her lip. "What is it?"

"Bone," Luke told her, debating if he should tell her the whole truth.

"What are they for?" Wedge asked, recognizing them from earlier.

Luke chewed on his lower lip and sat up. And he admitted it. "You make wedding lockets out of them."

Kayla's eyes flashed up.

"It's a Tatooine thing."

Kayla smiled big. She sat up with one and she nodded. Her mind quickly got to work. She plucked the other out of his palm and bent over again to find the best way to fit the two pieces together.

Wedge slapped his palm on Luke's shoulder and shook it intensely. " _Yes!_ "

The grease monkey fit them together in her palm and held them still. "Like this?"

"Yeah." He adjusted them together in her hand until they almost fit, creating a nice fat, squished symbol of infinity. "Can you do it?"

Kayla nodded and shot off her stool. "It'll melt them a little bit," she warned.

"That's okay." Luke rose to his feet and followed her. "Just not too much." He hovered over her shoulder at a solder station and Wedge hovered over her other shoulder to watch. She clamped them gently together with lock pliers and touched the pen iron on a piece of scrap metal to test its heat.

Luke took a deep breath and blew out a heavily breath. _Am I really doing this?_

Wedge poked his nose over. "Wasn't Kess wearing one of those already?"

"It's her grandmother's," Luke explained. "She's going to use it to try to pull Nik back."

The two watched as Kayla came down carefully with the pen iron. Luke held his breath.

Like a pro, Kayla drew down one gentle, smooth slice . . . and the two sides of bone melted together with a single white-gray line.

Wedge wrapped his arm around Luke's shoulder. "You put carving designs on these things, right? What are you going to carve it with?"

Luke scratched his head. His thoughts hadn't gotten that far.

Kayla finished her work and set the pen iron away. She set the lock pliers down gently to let the bones cool. She turned her head and shouted. "Yo, Ashten!"

Ashten stepped curiously over and looked at the strange project. "What are you doing?"

"Did we bring the chinkle tool kit?"

"Yeah, why? What is that?"

Kayla lifted it carefully, still in the locked pliers, and showed her. "It's Tatooine bone. For a wedding locket. But it needs a carving."

Green eyes bulged, on Kayla, on Wedge, on Luke . . . and stayed there with a slow-growing smile. She nodded and snatched the thing from Kayla's hands to trot away.

Luke freaked. He followed in a rush. Wedge and Kayla ran to follow.

"Make a hole!" Ashten yelled at the lounging grease monkeys so she could step through to the back of the tool closet. They sat up, alarmed at the hurrying crowd. Ashten handed the pliers back blindly and Kayla snatched it out of the green hand before Luke did.

Ashten looked over the stacked crates in the closet, reading labels.

"What's going on?" Seidrik peeped.

"Skywalker's making a wedding locket." Ashten said mid-scan and yanked off a crate from the top.

"What?" Seidrik stood just as Ashten shoved a crate into his arms.

"Help me with this."

Rogan sat up with a deep croon. Seth smiled and stood too, helping Seidrik get the excess crates out of the way as Ashten dug deeper into the stacks. Klivian stepped over with cringing curiosity. "Did I just hear that hell hath indeed froze over?"

As if they were playing the elementary game of telephone, the whisper rolled across the hangardeck at lightspeed, and with excited precision, until the whole compliment of Rogue Group knew what was happening. _Skywalker's making a wedding locket!_

Luke sighed until it grunted out of his throat in grinning defeat. "Boy, it's a good thing we're all on a different ship!"

Half the pilots and all of repair gathered into a gang by the time Ashten came out of the tool closet with the chosen crate and lowered to her knees to dig through it. Kayla handed the pliers and locket to Wedge in order to free her hands and help Ashten. They unpacked a dozen tools until they found the little kit they were looking for.

"I knew it!" Josey shouted as she jumped over to join them. She poked over Wedge's shoulder to peer at the thing.

Jewie came over and reached for it from Wedge's hand. "Let me see."

Luke shrugged his palms with impatience at them all. "Can I have it back please?"

Wedge patted the air at him to calm down. "In a minute." He motioned to the crew now passing it around for a closer look. "They worked for this too."

Janson stepped up behind Luke and slapped him on the shoulder with the strength of success. Luke closed his eyes with a grin and let his body nudge weakly by it.

Ashten jumped to her feet and Kayla popped up immediately afterwards. They opened the little kit and showed him the electric hand tool and all its various bits. They gang showered him with questions.

"When are you going to ask her?"

"What design are you going to put on it?"

"You want some help carving it?"

"Tarrin is a master at the chinkle tool."

"You could put words on it."

"I don't think May The Force Be With You is gonna fit."

"I don't think May The Force Be With You are the words it should have."

He waited until the questions dribbled to a silence. He looked around at what was almost the whole crew standing around him, all trying to figure out the best possible way to make this happen. Luke admitted it to himself: they _did_ work for it.

Luke reached over to the person that had it and eyed hard for the locket to return to its owner. Ommis handed it proudly back. Then Luke turned to face Ashten again and held his other hand out for the tool kit. Ashten smiled and gave it over with a bow.

"The rest is on me," he told them. "But thank you." He looked around, meeting all the excited eyes and approving smiles. "All of you."

With that, Luke took both objects into his hands, and he strolled away.

The gang remained silent for a moment longer as he left, but he could hear the murmurs and laughter and victory flowing up as he turned into the tight corridor.

Luke smiled at his feet and thought to himself, "Well, Wormie, you're locked on target _now_."


	34. LL5 33 Halsey

Kess woke up with the overwhelming sense of pain. It felt like a heart was cut out of a chest, and deliberately, by some evil power. Helplessness. Tears. Teeth-clenching anger against the source of the loss. Her hand found the small bunk cubby on the Falcon. The ship still hummed with hyperspace. Alarmed, worried, she switched on the little light and half sat up, sensing out.

It wasn't Nik. The Force Print bleeding into her brain was too foreign. But it was a man. She could feel the testosterone rage with a protector's wrath. And it was close. Very close.

She whipped the blanket from her legs and jumped quietly out of bed.

Vanech wasn't using the Force, but he was suffering a terrible nightmare. She tiptoed down the round corridor to his bunk and approached _en guarde_. She needed to wake him, but considered to have her lightsaber handy in case the dream escaped into awakeness. But no, when Vanech woke, the last thing he needed to see was a weapon.

Nervous to keep him from waking too soon, Kess reached across this body and Force Pulled his little lightsaber out of the corner of the thin mattress.

Vanech flashed into action, grabbing her by the collar with one hand as he reached for the lightsaber with the other. His face was a twisted mess of rage. But she yanked the hilt out of his reach before he could grab it and hid it safely behind her hip until he realized he was awake.

"It's just me."

Vanech blinked and shuddered. He fell back against the bunk, letting his hand fall from her shirt, and rubbed his angry eyes. "Go away."

"No." Kess said it before she thought about it. But then she thought about it. "No, I won't."

He rolled to his hip and grabbed her shirt again, bringing her nose to nose with his wrinkled face. "I said _GO AWAY_!"

She sensed Chewie now listening with alarm from the cockpit. She sensed Han begin to wake up. But she kept the man's eyes with calm and peace. "Breathe."

Vanech shoved her away from him so hard she nearly fell. He rubbed his face again, his mouth in a snarl. "Jedi tricks can't fix this."

"No. But they can help you deal with it."

Chewie's naked feet padded quickly down the corridor at her, but she blindly waved him away before he came to close. She stepped carefully back over to the bunk and met Chewie's warning gaze with resolve. She waved him away again and nodded. _I've got this_.

Vanech sat up in the bunk, but he looked deflated. His shoulders had to curl over and still the back of his head bumped against the top rim of the cubby. He sighed hard at his own lap and curled both sets of fingers into his knotted hair. "Give me my lightsaber back."

"In a minute." Kess assured, and settled her shoulder against the nearby bulkhead to wait with patience.

His eyes looked around the dark ship, awake now, and turned over his shoulder to reach back and grab a pack of death sticks from a slot. Kess watched him light it up and close his eyes at the first deep drag, as if that was going to fix it.

But she didn't comment on it. She understood it. Such habits always _felt_ like they were helping, even though such habits just made the problem worse by stuffing crap away in a corner to fester even more. It wasn't far different from her father's drinking.

After a moment, he offered her a drag with a simple gesture.

"No, thanks."

Vanech shoved off the bunk so he could stand his full height, but he didn't seem to be interested in going anywhere. He rested a forearm against the bulkhead and drooped over his smoking death stick.

"Who was it?" She asked gently. "Who did you lose?"

His eyes glanced over but ignored her. He didn't answer. The pain swelled up first, and then his rage erupted right after it. The Force flashed with an incredible urge to slaughter every last one of them.

The sheer force of it disturbed her. It was a loss, yes, but it was like the loss of one's own limb. They took something from him he couldn't stand to live without. Something he _shouldn't_ _have to_ live without. This was far stronger than a brutally ripped love torn in two. This wasn't a sibling, or a parent, or a wife. It was _worse_.

Kess stepped over and touched his arm with her fingertips, just to give the man some gentle tactical connection. She grew hopeful when he didn't pull away.

He swallowed hard and sucked in a new drag, talking through the smoke as it escaped his mouth. "She was about to turn thirteen."

Kess's soul soured in the overwhelming loss too. A _daughter!?_ She closed her hand around his forearm in her own shock, flooding with a craving to relieve him of some of this overwhelming pain. No one should have to outlive their own child.

He tried to keep it in, he tried to slam it back into the darkness of his heart, but his teeth clenched and his face pinched, and he curled his head over into his forearms.

Tears seeped from her own eyes just to feel the blinding pain bleed out on the Force. Timidly, her palm went to his back and the other closed around his naked forearm, almost a loose hug, but not quiet. She wondered if it was recent or just coming out now that Luke had softened him up, but she did the math. Vanech could not have been older than thirty-five, so the death of a twelve-year-old daughter could not have been more than a decade ago, even if he accidentally conceived the girl when he was a teenager.

He cried, tight and angry, into that wall. His death stick smoked in his loosening fingers. It was about to fall, so Kess reached up and gently pulled it from his hand.

He glared over at her with new anger for taking it away.

So she met his eyes and sucked in a little puff of smoke for herself, inhaled it with practiced memory, and handed it honorably back.

The man grinned. He took it and turned around, dropping his back against the curved padding on the bulkhead, and sucked in another drag of his own. He didn't wipe the small tears from his eyes when he focused on her. "Some things can't be meditated away," he said roughly.

She struggled for something wise to say. "Some things _shouldn't_ be meditated away."

His brow flicked in surprise that a Jedi would say that.

Kess settled her back against the opposite curved padding and shrugged. "Sometimes meditation is only to take away the sting. So you can think smart."

Vanech lowered his eyes to stare at the deck.

"What was her name?"

He inhaled a breath and lifted his chin to meet her eyes. "Halsey," he said, then smiled a little. "I named her after the Jedi statue we conceived her on."

Kess flashed a little smile. "Pretty stiff defiance there, scrogging on Jedi statue?"

Zach smiled more too, shaking his head and looking away at the memory of it.

"Where's her mother?"

"Who the fuck knows?" He groaned. "She didn't even finish breast feeding before she took off."

Kess was quiet and patient, letting each question and answer settle in the peaceful nighttime before she dared another one. "Were you married?"

His scoffed, "Hell no." He knocked his head back against the bulkhead. "I almost did, later, but the life doesn't really fit in with my business model."

Kess fought a tight grin at the reality of that. "I suppose that's true."

Ice eyes smiled through his sadness, but they shifted to a serious warning. "You let me out of this ship, on that planet, in the middle of a battle, I'm going kill a lot of fucking people."

She rubbed her lips and bit them closed.

"I know it won't be enough. It won't fix it. Or solve it. But I'm going to do it anyway."

Kess mentally scrambled to figure out how to talk him out of this, but it was clear in his expression he wasn't going to budge.

"So stay out of my fucking way." He sucked in a drag and blew it into the air. "Okay?"

Kess could only nod.

He watched her, hard and cold, and crushed out his stick on a panel, uncaring of the mess it made. He reached his hand for his lightsaber.

Hesitant, Kess handed it back.

He took the hilt and waved her to go away. Without pausing to see if she would, he climbed back into his bunk and laid down, gripping the lightsaber to his chest.

Defeated, Kess stepped back to her own buck and laid down, eyes wide open to fear the consequences. Zach was till swimming in the dark side. Killing a bunch of people was only going to shove him deeper. Kess closed her eyes at a new truth; Zach Vanech _didn't want_ to be saved.


	35. LL5 34 Fleet Muster

Dozens of ships hovered in empty space, far distant from any planet or star, and waited in darkness.

Then, in front of them, a larger collection of ships rained out of hyperspace like bullets slamming to a dead stop.

The Minister of State was the first to unbuckle herself from her seat and stepped across the bridge to the forward window. At this distance, she could already make out the shape of the head freighter closing in to face them down. She opened a channel with a smile. "Good to see you again, _Lady Luck_."

A friendly voice crooned through the speakers. "Welcome to the middle of nowhere!"

As the little ship inched forward to bring them face to face, the Mon Calamari cruiser loomed like a giant slug over his little dot. Lando greeted over the comms with a happy announcement. "Allow me to introduce you to some old friends. . . ."

In the _Mon Icarus_ ready room, Luke unstrapped from the leather chair as soon as hyperspace screeched to a halt. Dozens of bodies jumped out of their seats and peered through the nearest window to catch a glimpse of the other half-sized fleet waiting to join them. Voices identified friendly ships they recognized. Some questioned where the hell they were.

Luke didn't try to get a peak. He knew enough about what was out there. He shoved through the tightening crowd to get out of the ready room and rushed to the hangar decks com station. Wedge beat him to it but was already ending his comm. He punched the release button and stood quickly from the chair. "You've got two minutes."

Luke sat down as soon as Wedge's ass was out of the seat. "What's our ETD?"

"Fleet, four hours," Wedge told as he turned to get to business, "Us, _one_."

Luke nodded and typed fast. The _Falcon_ picked up in a flash, no doubt anticipating the comm. But the _Falcon_ didn't have a vid comm; this call was audio only. Luke settled his elbows on the desk top and murmured closer to the mike. " _Millennium_ _Falcon_ , Skywalker."

He heard the shuffling of bodies and her voice came through, quiet and reserved. "Hey." More shuffling. He heard Han order Vanech out of the main bay.

"Hey. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. I'm worried about Vanech though."

"What happened?"

"Details later. I trust his drawings, his intent to help us. But he's got his own agenda. Vanech is going to be a loose cannon down there."

"Anything you can do about it?"

"I don't think so."

Luke sighed but accepted it. "As long as he's not killing civilians, stay out of his way."

"Copy that."

He sighed again, struggling for the right thing to say. All this would be overheard by the internal security monitoring every com in case of saboteurs and spies, not to mention any nearby ship who happened upon the channel. He closed his mouth.

"I love you," she said, calm and quiet, fearful and hopeful.

A smile spread as he dropped his face to the desk. But he lifted it back up. "I love you, too."

"See you on the other side," she said.

"Be safe." He whispered back and paused before making himself hang up. It wasn't even a full two minutes, but any more conversation would only distract them both. Luke shoved his mind to work and trotted back to the ready room where the other pilots were already getting dressed. The first thing he did was to pull the half-carved locket out of his pocket and tuck it safely in his sock.

On the bridge of the _Mon Odelbom_ , Mon Mothma stood like a tall glass of cool water, watching and listening as several Admirals arranged the two fleets until they sifted together in a tidy formation. This part was expected to take some time, leaving them vulnerable to nearby witnesses that happened to be in the area, but proper formation was crucial for mission success.

"Chief Commander?"

Mon Mothma turned to the communications officer and stepped over. The young Wookiee pointed at her screen. It was a message from Leia, coded and over coded, with only enough information to pass the necessary word.

Five of Six confirmed. ZV assistance unsuccessful.

It didn't matter if Zach Vanech failed to bring in the Kein system, or if he just refused to try. The Chief Commander focused her mind on planning around it. The Kein system was the closest of the Serra Arm to Coruscant itself. Without local distraction, any Imperial Forces near Kein would skip over in fast hyperspace and join the fight within minutes. Plan Cresh was at risk of total failure.

She thumbed to open a channel and spread the word to the Admirals. It was difficult to discuss it without revealing any proper nouns, but they managed. She suspected one or more of the Admirals wanted to cancel or delay the attack on this risk. Thankfully, no one openly challenged it enough to make her tell them it was too late to call it off. By now, the Empire knew they'd left the Yavin System days ago. So the Empire was likely preparing for the onslaught. There were only two things she felt confident the Empire was unaware; which system, and how many.

Kess peeked out of the Falcon's cockpit window and looked around. All the stars seemed too distant and dim to be close to the Inner Rim. "Where the hell are we?"

"At a friend's house," Han said quietly.

A transmission cut through every conversation with a wide-sprayed, open com. "Woooo hooo!" Crooned the wild voice. "Cinnamon Buns, you sure know how to crash a party!"

Leia looked out _Intrepid's_ big window and rolled her eyes at the squirrely little hopper threading through the organized reticulating of the two fleets, getting sufficiently underfoot. She stepped over to the thumb the open com. "Cinnamon Buns strongly recommends you get out of the way."

"Well, I would," Petra warned across the waves. "But I felt it prudent to inform you that separate festivities have commenced."

These words crackling through Rogue Group's hangar deck intercom made a dozen pilots and two-dozen repair crew pause mid-task. Wedge and Luke exchanged eyes of concern.

"The coronation of our new Emperor is underway. The invitation list is extensive." Petra told them all. "Prepare for a crowded venue."

Thousands of hearts skipped a beat.

Leia's voice came through the same speaker for all to hear, hard and cold. "When?"

"Now." Petra reported tightly. "The ceremony started two hours ago."

Kess put a palm over her mouth. She could feel the Force sizzle with the rush of activity as All Hands hurried to their fighters and strapped into their drop transports.

"Thank you for letting us know," Leia said over the com with a casual tone. Without further conversation, Petra's tiny ship squiggled away from the fleet and disappeared into hyperspace.

Few people heard that last part because they were already rushing faster into action. And fewer were peering through windows to watch fighters flood out of carriers as if the big machines were bleeding. Kayla hooked up Wedge's life support as he shouted orders into his helmet. Ashten gave Luke a hard nod and slid down the ladder with both feet. Kess raced to the gun turret and ran into Vanech as he raced to climb down to the other. Admiral Ackbar croaked orders to form up double-time. Mon Mothma closed her eyes and prayed in silence. Leia walked back to her chair and strapped herself in as she typed in a sub-space comm channel.

Wubak's proud blue face flickered onto Leia's screen. The moment she recognized her, Wubak began to grin at the Minister of State.

"Transmit," Leia ordered.

Wubak nodded and hung up.

Mon Mothma turned her face to General Dodonna. He eyed back with a nod. "Ten minutes. Maximum twenty."

The fleet spread vertical into the shape of a wide-spaced, five-pointed star, with the larger cruisers knotted in the center, surrounded by a thick layer of battleships and fleet aides, tipped at the points with dozens of X-Wings, A-Wings, Y-Wings, B-Wings, and more. Many still drifted in the inertia of moving into the arrangement, tapping thrusters only to maintain relative position. Luke glanced up and over to where the _Millennium Falcon_ hovered at his ten-o'clock. It was too distant to tell who was in the lower turret, but he sensed her up there, as busy and tense as everyone else in this immense vicinity.

He found he could also sense Vanech. The man was thirsty for blood.

 _Dammit_ , Luke thought, and turned his sights forward to the task at hand. All wings reported in to the Rogue-Only channel and snapped open the All Comm in each ship. They listened as all Groups reported in and snapped open the All Comm to each attack pattern. . . Then all fleet aides. . . . Then all battleships . . . then all Cruisers. . . . and then. . . .

Then Admiral Ackbar's gravelly voice cut through every speaker in every helmet and cockpit.

"Three. . . two . . . one . . . _Jump_ —


	36. LL5 35 The Battle of Coruscant

Trillions of vid screens across thousands of star systems interrupted "this program to bring you breaking news." All across the galaxy, jaws dropped to watch a vid clip of Jedi Skywalker kissing his first apprentice like there was no tomorrow. Thousands of regional forces jumped into action before the ten-second clip looped to its second run. Wubak babbled casually about the inferred juice as the clip continued to play behind her shoulder in a loop, again and again and again and again. . . .

Her Holiness Ro'Salia turned her palms to the ceiling and prayed at the sky with a smile.

Vice President Tesseoni ran through the hall and dove into the Situation Room with shouts.

Ambassador Cagharten interrupted the scolding Moff by pulling out a blaster and shooting him in the face.

Prince Petra dropped out of hyperspace to see the firefight already in full force over Flan and hooted with excitement.

Baron Flintob stared at the screen and began to chortle at the vid clip. "You're in trouble now, boy." It was all very humorous until he began to hear explosions in the sky overhead.

Secretary Woody didn't see any of it because he was asleep, probably due to the hypodermic needle Clarissa was now pulling out of his shoulder. She shoved him from his chair to crumble to the floor, and she reached over his desk to punch open the comm to give the orders herself.

Within seconds of each other, six planetary battles commenced, and that happened within seconds of the Alliance fleet slamming out of hyperspace in the form of a five-pointed star over the rat's nest of Coruscant.

One minute.

Kess expected to have to fire immediately upon seeing the planet, but reminded herself that's not how sieges worked. Organized strands of civilian and shipping traffic began to scatter as if the Alliance had entered on a strong wind. She glanced around to see this star formation constrict into a tighter knot. Out there against the black-gold jewel, wedges of white began to move, angling out and aiming all available Star Destroyers to meet the attackers head on.

Two minutes.

Nik sat in the Supreme Chancellor's chair but the robes and helmet hid the fact that he was strapped into it. Jakobi continued to throw his voice with grandiose display in his long-winded speech, but system representatives began to shift and fuss and murmur as if they were an animal herd skittering at an impending earthquake. Jakobi paused to inhale for controlling shout at them all, but an Air Raid Alarm drowned out his voice.

Three minutes.

Teams of fighters and blockade runners curled forward to bring the five points of formation into a shallow bowl as they slowly advanced. Most of the civilian ships managed their chance to flee, but that gave time for the Empire to rush angrily closer. Obtuse triangles of Imperial ships shoved ahead to meet the Alliance nose to nose, and all rebel eyes watched it with hard silence. Just as the TIE fighters drew close enough to be visible with the naked eye (but still out of reach to lock target and fire) Admiral Ackbar shouted into the eerie silence of the open com. "Break!"

Five triangles of fighter and blockade gnats cut away from the heart of the pentagon-shaped cruiser and battleship fleet. Red and green bolts shot at each other like they were spitting each other in the face. TIEs angled hard to rush in front of the fighters, but now could only take up chase as the petals of the star formation drifted out over the planet's wide curve.

Four minutes.

Luke angled hard up with Rogue Group and sailed toward the north end of the planet. He fired only at TIE fighters that got in his way, but spent most of his time dodging other ships, quickly leaving Rogue Group to twist into a swarm without him. He skidded along the deck of a Star Destroyer, dodging shots from its forward guns like he was a skipping rock, and soon left the battle behind him to race for the planet.

Five minutes.

Kess tried to aim back for a shot as the _Millennium Falcon_ angled hard to port to sailed west with their gang, during which she accidently hit a member of Blue Group with her piss poor aim. In a lightening move that surprised even her, she lifted her hand and Force Yanked the ejection seat of the other pilot just before his X-Wing splintered into flame. But that gave her an idea. Instead of putting her hands back on the turret triggers, she put both hands out at the nearest TIE fighter screaming in chase, and yanked his ejection handle too. Shots silenced and TIE sailed dead ahead from that point forward. The _Millennium Falcon_ easily curved out of its way and angled for the planet below.

With the heart and soul of the big cruisers drawing in and taking the brunt of Imperial defense forces, five leaves of fighter and blockade groups spread out to attack the five nearest shield gates.

Six minutes.

System representatives flooded the walkways of the Senate Dome only to find the exterior doors already locked. Jakobi silenced the Air Raid siren inside the building and called out over the loudspeaker. "The Convention Center is secure. This is the safest building on the planet. You're Emperor commands you to _sit back down!"_

Hidden inside the helmet, Nik's eyes turned up with stunned confusion at what was happening, but he found only a distant lamp built into the dome ceiling. The little pin light would have blinded him were he not in the shielded visor, but the light sprayed over the tinting like a five-pointed star, as if it was trying to yell at him. _Brightness?_ But the brightness shrank farther away when Jakobi jammed down the spire controls and the whole central stamen of the flower-shaped room shrank quickly into the floor.

Seven minutes.

Hardly visible to Han's naked eyes, TIE fighters popped tiny pieces of themselves out into space. He didn't notice at first that the two-second-spaced pops preceded the silence of their guns, but the resulting dead sticks were obvious. "What the hell is going on?" He shouted into the comm.

"I'm ejecting them!" Kess shouted back. Her words caused a pregnant pause between pops, but the ejections soon resumed.

Han smiled rough as he aimed around a now dead TIE with new understanding.

Eight minutes.

Luke flipped a 180 and flew upside down over the curve of the planetary shield, racing far away from the attack of the gate. Looking up, he could see the city traffic had already thinned and stragglers continued to scramble for cover before the onslaught. Artoo spat a reminder at Luke not to scrape the droid's dome on the shield. Luke adjusted away a few more feet to give the guy some headroom, but continued to rush over the expansive surface and center himself directly over the Palace.

Nine minutes.

Blockade runners and tiny fleet aides tried to dodge shots from surface guns of five gates all while trying to fire back, but blast shots splintered against the shield in futility. They flew in flowing circles as if in the diagram of gravitational poles swooping away and over in again to fire more useless shots at the center point of each gate. An A-wing cut it too close and crashed against the transparent surface. A blockade runner was hit and dove smack down into the gate gun that killed it. And still the gate held.

Ten minutes.

Four Star Destroyers managed to evade enough of the Alliance attack to about-face it back toward the planet. They opened every gun to shower the petals of fighters with blast shots, and these guys didn't care if they hit allies along the way.

Eleven minutes.

"Come on!" Han growled, sailing his ship over the glistening shield with a party of several others at his flank. The Imperial Palace was already out of view underneath him, and he would have to pull up and face the battle in order circle around again and remain in position above it.

Like a shot out of the dark, a single X-wing yanked into the sky before the two smashed face to face into each other. Kess saw only a glimpse of the top of it before it disappeared, but she smiled to know who it was.

"Twelve minutes!" Lando shouted over the comm and pulled the _Lady Luck_ around for a gentle circle over the Palace Precinct.

Luke scooped overhead only long enough to find one of the Star Destroyers narrowing in on their little growing swarm, and shoved down toward the planet again in tight circle before the massive thing could get a lock. "Star Destroyer coming down on top of us!" He shouted as he angled down and port, banking into formation with the _Lady Luck's_ wide circle over the shield.

Thirteen minutes.

Kess searched out of the dome view of the turret for anything else she could dismantle or disable, but all the TIEs were gone, and she didn't know enough, nor was she precise enough, to manage any similar feat with an unseen Star Destroyer coming at them from other side of the ship. She searched the stretch of the shield below for an idea of something she could do, but only saw the black pointed breast of the Imperial Palace spreading like a tumor on the pewter city surface beneath her.

Fourteen minutes.

Han yanked the Millennium Falcon up as if he was going to fly right at the face of the Star Destroyer, but shoved it into a spiral back to the surface, flattening out at the last minute to join the seven other random ships now swarming in a circle like a flock of birds trying to land.

Fifteen minutes.

Kess caught a glimpse of the Star Destroyer in the move and continued to stare at it when the _Millennium Falcon_ banked in to join the circle. They were all upside down, showing their undersides to the approaching Star Destroyer as if in defiance, but Kess knew full well it was so all eyes could watch that shield and dive the split second it was out of their way.

Sixteen minutes.

As they dodged blast shots in waiting, that Star Destroyer came closer, firing everything it had at the little swarm. It inched forward as if prepared to smash itself against the shield just to swat these annoying flies. Kess picked up the turret triggers and squeezed out bolts at machine-gun speed, but her laser shots helplessly sizzled against the Star Destroyer's shield. One of the many green bolts shot quickly at her face.

"Kess! Get out of there!" Han shouted amidst his flying. Kess found she'd already yanked herself out of the chair and huddled in the corner of the turret as the green bolt sizzled over the turret dome and sprayed the _Falcon's_ shields. But these shields weren't going to last long against all of that. The only thing they had in their favor was speed and company.

As more green bolts shot her way, Kess crawled quickly out of the gun turret and secured the hatch completely closed.

Seventeen minutes—

The thin veil of planetary shield retreated like a slow-popping bubble of soap. In this sector alone, eight ships and two troop transports fell toward the planet as if they'd lost their fight against gravity . . . and the Star Destroyer followed them down.

As Kess managed her way back to the cockpit, she heard the hull shudder continuously. Vanech still fired everything he had against the Star Destroyer behind them. She gripped onto the chair behind Chewie and watched them fly fast for the surface like they intended a head-on collision with the planet. She watched amidst her struggling to strap in. Luke's X-wing was out there dashing back and forth as if dancing to avoid the shots coming at them from behind. Lando's _Lady Luck_ was out there scooping back and forth to prevent the enemies from locking on. Crix's troop transports were getting smashed like a pancake between the planetary guns and the destroyer's guns, but his shields were holding.

It felt like a long time to fall before the details of city surface began to take shape, but by then skyscrapers reached out for them like fingers trying to grab them out of the sky.

Green shots angled away and faded when the Star Destroyer took evasive maneuvers to pull up, and still the tiny crew raced for the surface for a few beats longer. With widened eyes, Kess gripped her straps and set her boots hard on the deck as Han shouted the command. "Brace for maneuvers!"

One by one, per the specific capabilities of each ship, they dropped their asses and slammed on thrusters to stop before they crashed into buildings below. Kess tried to keep her eyes open and see where the others ended up, but her eyes slammed shut at the blow. Her stomach flipped at the spinning gravity. The Falcon bounced against surface with a small crash as landing gear smashed beneath them.

"Shit." Han cussed and quickly softened his speed and angle for his next attempt. He angled the ship into the bowl of a large, open plaza, and dropped them down in skidding splat, ending finally to rest lopsided against the duracrete, pinching the _Falcon's_ own access ramp closed by its own weight.


	37. LL5 36 The Plaza

Kess didn't hesitate. The ramp was disabled. She shot out of her straps and ran to yank open the hatch for the access tube to get out from above. Vanech climbed down from the upper turret with unlit hilt in hand, ready to follower her up the ladder. Han and Chewie shouted at each other as they dove out of the cockpit and yanked out their blaster and crossbow to follow.

Keeping her head low, she chunked down the lever to open the top hatch and saw a clear view of the Coruscant sky. The distant battle still spit red and green bolts amongst knots of big ships out there, but a dozen troop transports were fighting their way down to the surface all over the city like falling parachutes.

She released her lightsaber from her hip and lifted it to rise —almost— entirely out of the hatch, and ignited the amber blade.

Blast shots fired at it from several directions, but not _all_ directions. She concentrated. She breathed quickly, and she shoved her body the rest of the way up the ladder spinning the amber blade madly to absorb and deflect blaster fire. She wasn't very good at it until she climbed out enough to see the scattered storm troopers aiming their guns at her. She squatted on her knee, and focused on nothing but blocking shot after shot as the men climbed out of the hatch behind her and began to fire back from a battle crawl.

Some of the stormtroopers fell from the return fire. Some of them turned and dove for cover. Some of them ran. Civilians screamed and cried and raced away, many huddling into a ball right there on the open deck of the plaza itself. A troop transport slammed down on the other corner of the plaza and poured out its rebel guts. More blast shots added to the fray, granting the _Falcon_ crew enough cover to shimmy down between the nose mandibles and jump down to the duracrete surface under the ship.

TIE fighter shots sprayed down on top of the _Falcon_ and the surrounding deck, splashing up bits of pretty plaza tile wherever it hit. Still not yet on their feet from the jump down, Han grabbed Kess's head with both arms covered over her with his body. Kess closed her eyes and reached a hand up, fumbling to eject the pilot in the blind. The TIE's path was audible as it screamed close overhead, angling up to swoop down in a circle again, but Kess managed the grip and yanked. The pilot ejected with a hollow pop in the air. And the TIE aimed its dead face to crash right into the side of a towering building.

* * *

Luke dropped _Five_ to the edge of a city canyon, stopping surface traffic to a screeching halt by landing in the middle of the street and hovered there only long enough to turn the ship from left to right and fire his guns at every building and body that fired back at him. Once enough of the blaster fire was snuffed out, and crowds of civilians leapt from their speeders to flee, he punched the canopy open and scrambled out of his straps and life support.

Artoo raised himself out of his socket with a fast spinning dome and reported the distance and direction of nearby allies and enemies. Luke jumped down to the street and shed the white panel from his orange suit, which was all he intended to do, but he decided bright target orange wasn't the best color to be wearing on a day like this. He ducked under the X-Wing's belly to unzip the flight suit off his street clothes too.

"Get to the Senate!" He shouted at Artoo as he stripped. The droid spun around and burned rubber down the road, weaving between crashed and abandoned speeders along the way. The little guy already knew exactly where he was and how to get where he needed to be. Luke stepped out of the orange suit and ducked before getting hit by new blaster fire. A Coruscant cop hovered over the canyon behind him, with both officers firing the hood guns to scrape across his X-Wing.

The green blade ignited. He lunged hard to swipe in fast jerks, blocking shots from hitting himself, but there was nothing he could do about the fighter. He couldn't cover a shot from sailing into her fuel tank because his blade was amidst covering a shot landing against his hip. Thankfully, he bounced it back and nailed the cop car in the windshield, but the other shot hit _Five_ on the quarter panel. Luke dove down and tried to roll away from the blast, but the belch of flame knocked him ass over teakettle along the asphalt. His hair singed and the back of his hands burned from the outer reaches of the explosion, but he'd gained enough distance and angled to miss the brunt of it. He rolled back to his feet without pause and dove to a full run up the street. He didn't look back because he didn't want to see his beloved _Red Five_ burnt to a crisp.

* * *

Soldiers fanned out over the plaza and knelt at key positions to start the growing bubble of secured territory. Rifles aimed at civilians who ran away until they were out of sight, not hesitating to return fire in when occasional civilians fired back at them. But they had a problem, because now a half dozen Coruscant police craft hovered overhead, firing shots as they floated behind the cover of nearby buildings. Rebels fired up from doorways and broken windows of shops on the outer rim of the plaza. Chewie yanked Kess to her feet and pointed even as they still ducked under the angled body of the _Falcon_. Madine had secured a big notch against the buildings on the south side, surrounded by a dozen other soldiers firing out from behind a series of fruit stands. Han ordered them to split up, and shoved Kess's shoulder ahead until all four of them were racing a hard run across the half kilometer of open space.

All surrounding cops aimed their noses at the four-person crew and fired fast, but the move managed to bring a few of them out into the open where rebel rifles nailed their hoods and windshields until they fell out of the sky. Kess heard Madine shouting his location and status into a comm as they came closer. Rifles barrels lifted out of aim and hands yanked shirt sleeves to pull them faster behind the fruit stands. With the glad-to-have-it extra force of a fellow rebel yank, Kess landed hard against the exterior wall of the buildings, amidst the wide notch between entrance porticos, and cussed at the intensity of ground battle. She thought, I will never insult a grunt soldier again.

Chewie bounced against the wall and dove to his knees to join the troopers with crossbow fire. Han ducked behind a corner and shot out with his blaster. Kess lifted her amber blade back to the task of defending shots from these fellow troopers.

Slowly but surely, the attacking blasts began to fizzle out, but a new rain of fire came down from west and rattled closer along the outside of the building. A ship. Kess heaved her body into the corner and Han ducked back against her before they were shot by the angle. A blast narrowly missed her arm and hit the wall beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut for the hit, but opened them again to find a green bar of light shaking fast to come around the corner to join them.

Now in black from neck to feet, Luke ran so fast his body landed in a vertical crash against the other corner. The cop car that chased him came down with a scream and crashed uncomfortably close to the fruit stands. They all ducked and covered until the explosion passed and debris finished stabbing shards of metal into the wall. Madine's troops instantly popped back up and resumed fire at the remaining two hover craft, still floating too distant to land a decent shot.

Kess uncovered her head and panted in the adrenaline of it. And her big eyes moved to Luke also coming down from a hard breath of his running.

He looked over at her and smiled through his panting. "Hi."

Kess couldn't help but to flash a fast smile back. No one else paused for a hello. Madine was already moving out from behind the fruit stand to order his forces forward and take down those last two hover cops. Han brought up his comm and poked around the west corner to get a layout of where they were, shouting for the rest of his team report status and location. Vanech curled around the corner with little blue blade in hand and ran west. Han shoved Kess's shoulder to go to Luke and disappeared around the west corner too, firing fresh as he ran.

Luke motioned Kess over just as another shot nailed the ground between their feet. She jumped over it and landed against him in the east corner, holding her blade near his to cover them both in case any more shots sailed their way.

Luke wrapped his free arm around the front of her shoulders as extra protection and poked his head for a peek around both west and east corners. The Imperial Palace loomed black several kilometers distant to the west of them. The Senate Dome was out of sight behind other buildings several kilometers to their east. "Where is he?!" He shouted over the booms and blaster fire.

Kess grimaced away from the occasional close shot and realized what he meant. If the Coronation Ceremony had already started, they probably had Nik in the Senate Dome for it, but the Jedi needed to be certain before they wasted travel in the wrong direction. She closed her eyes to try to sense her brother, but another shot landed uncomfortably close.

Luke grabbed her by the shirt and shoved her roughly back in the corner behind him, blocking her cowering body with his own and grabbing his hilt with both hands to wait and guard any more nearby shots. Madine's troops were already gone with their advance.

The Jedi were on their own.

Kess closed her eyes behind his back and fought for concentration to sense out in a Force Telepathy scream. " _NIK!_ "

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** Nik shuddered limply as the electricity left his fingertips. He stared at the black surface of the big desk without seeing it and recited it in a fast mumble.

"MynameisDarthTovecus. PeaceisalieThereisonlyPassion. ThroughPassionIgainStrength. ThroughStrengthIgainPower. ThroughPowerIgainVictory. ThroughVictorymychainsareBroken. LonglivethePalpatineEmpire."

As soon as he was finished saying it, the whole thing started again.

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** "MynameisDarthTovecus. PeaceisalieThereisonlyPassion. ThroughPassionIgainStrength. ThroughStrengthIgainPower. ThroughPowerIgainVictory. ThroughVictorymychainsareBroken. Longlivethe PalpatineEmpire."

His ears couldn't hear the battle raging outside, he couldn't hear the frantic shouting of Jakobi on the other side of the room, he couldn't even hear his own voice, much less the voice of someone trying to talk to him through a skill he didn't know how to use.

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** "MynameisDarthTovecus. PeaceisalieThereisonlyPassion. ThroughPassionIgainStrength. ThroughStrengthIgainPower. ThroughPowerIgainVictory. ThroughVictorymychainsareBroken. Longlivethe PalpatineEmpire."

"I can't sense him!" Kess cried, part in fear and part to yell over the noise.

"You have to!" Luke shouted back at her and grabbed her arm to insist it. "Kess! _You have to!"_

She closed her eyes again and tried a different tactic. This time, it wasn't a scream.

 _Nik. Nik it's me. Remember that time we used up a bunch of water to make sandcastles behind the house? Remember how Grandpa taught you to block punches? Remember Grandma and Grandma dancing in the courtyard? It's me, Nik. Try to remember._

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** "MynameisDarthTovecus. PeaceisalieThereisonlyPassion. ThroughPassionIgainStrength. ThroughStrengthIgainPower. ThroughPowerIgainVictory. ThroughVictorymychainsareBroken. Longlivethe PalpatineEmpire."

 _Remember when Dad treated us all to the good seats at the pod races? Remember when your son Ben was born? Remember calling me on Yavin to show me a photocap of Grandpa with a lightsaber? Remember me coming to your house with Luke Skywalker? Come on, Nik. Remember!_

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** "MynameisDarthTovecus. PeaceisalieThereisonlyPassion. ThroughPassionIgainStrength. ThroughStrengthIgainPower. ThroughPowerIgainVictory. ThroughVictorymychainsareBroken. Longlivethe PalpatineEmpire."

 _Remember when you beat the crap out of my boyfriend in high school? Remember when you gave me Grandma's locket after she died? Remember that time mom brought home cheesecake from a street vender and I threw up all over the place?_

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!** _"MynameisDarthCheesecake—_

Nik blinked.

His eyes found the brightness of a light. "Kay Kay?"

 **Z-Z-Z-Z-Zap!**

"YES!" Kess shouted behind Luke's shoulder and motioned him to go. "East!"

Luke shot his head around to search for clearance.

"He's east of us! Senate Dome!"

He nodded without looking back at her, took a single step out, ready to duck and cover again if need be. Ships rained down from above as the Imperials retreated all atmo-capable craft back to home base, but the surface fire was gone from this area.

Luke slapped her shoulder and pointed hard at a far away open door around the east corner of the plaza. She nodded and gripped her hilt with her left hand to ensure she didn't hit _him_ with it as they ran side by side.

"Stay close to the building!" He shouted, ducked as a blast shot splat nearby from directly above, and slapped her shoulder again. "Go!"

Kess ran hard and fast along the south edge of the plaza, fearing that she'd left him behind when she didn't hear his feet moving with hers. Madine's troops were out of sight now, and all the civilians were gone, save for a random few still frozen in shivering balls against the corners of buildings. The attacking craft overhead had nothing else to shoot at but the glowing green and amber blades of fleeing Jedi.

She ran fast and scared, and panicked more when someone inside the building slammed shut the door before she raced through it. Kess ducked as she slammed a shoulder against the wall, now seeing a glimpse of Luke racing only a few paces behind her, and both turned their feet to head south down the wide open lane leading away from the plaza.

In seconds, Luke motioned her at another closed door and looked up at a craft angling around them overhead. As Kess stabbed a hole into the window of the little shop and broke in like a burglar, Luke angled his back against her back and pointed two fingers at the ship above, focused on the pilot, and waved his fingers in a quick swipe to the south.

The ship fired down at the exterior of this commercial block and drew a blast line further south as if they were still running full speed down the street.

Her shoulder landed against the door and broke open so fast Kess fell to her feet in the middle of the little store. Luke stepped in, lightsaber first, and pulled her up by the elbow. Kess was running again before she made it fully to her feet, and both dove through the back door of the building to the service strip in the back alley.

Luke flattened against the wall and disengaged his lightsaber. His eyes aimed at the sky. His hand motioned her to shut down her lightsaber too. The craft flew over the alley enough to see them, but wasn't shooting anymore. Other explosions and blast shots echoed from all directions, but those remained at a distance.

"They lost us."

"I can't see the Senate Dome." Kess tried to peak over buildings but this alley was too tight and tall to see anything.

"East." Luke said as he trotted a little to the nearest perpendicular alley that led in that direction. Kess kept her unlit hilt in hand and ran to follow.


	38. LL5 37 The Senate Dome

With Nik in the Senate Dome, the end game might be a little easier, but they didn't have this area mapped out as well. Dashing between dumpsters and poking carefully around corners, Luke and Kess managed to catch some of their breath. Their movement was stuttered by hiding behind cover and peaking for clearance. Within a few klicks, they found themselves facing a wide rim of Imperial troops dotting the surrounding towers with snipers, and stormtroopers holding fast to prevent any Alliance advance on the Senate Dome. Luke and Kess weren't detected in their secret peeking, but agreed that trying to get around by north or south would do no good against this circular line. They had no means to go over, so Luke and Kess ducked back into the nearest building to seek out a way to go under.

A family of three huddled in a ball in the far corner of what looked like an office lobby. Kess patted her palm out with promises they wouldn't hurt them as Luke ignited his blade and stabbed down into the floor. It took a minute, but he stepped around in a big circle, dragging the blade to cut a large hole, and pulled the blade out again. With one foot, he stomped down onto it, but it barely nudged. Kess stepped over and stomped down the other side. It took several shoves before the hot-melted circle of metal broke free and fell like the loud clattering manhole cover onto the level below.

Kess ignited and used the Force in her jump to clear the hot-melted edge, already guarding herself from whatever was down there. Luke landed back-to-back behind her. They watched as people scattered away like mice in the apartment hallway.

"Do you know the layout here?" She asked as she rushed down the hall behind him.

"No." He huffed back, running without pause, stopping only when he found an elevator lobby and thumbed the button repeatedly to call a car.

"I lost track of which way is east," she said.

"That way." He said, pointing quickly to his right, and eyed the elevator as if that would make it come faster. "Don't lose track."

They rushed into the elevator together before the doors fully opened. Luke proceeded to cut a hole in the car's ceiling. Kess stuffed herself in the corner to stay out of the way thumbed to send the car down by ten floors, then jammed the doors to close as fast as they would. "Some of these levels are secured with key codes."

"And those are the ones we want." He told her and stepped against the wall beside her. The second manhole cover-shaped cut fell down from overhead. "Send it down one more as soon as we move."

He shut off the blade and centered himself under the hole, staring up until the car rested close to a stop. The doors didn't open because they didn't have the code. Luke jumped up through the hole with the Force and landed, with spread feet straddling the cut, on top of the car. Kess thumbed the next floor down and rushed to follow him, but she rushed so fast that she came too close to the cut edge and singed the shoulder of her pale tunic. Luke reached out and grabbed the back of her shirt, helping her until her feet found purchase on top of the elevator car, and kept his grip on her as the car sank one more level beneath them.

Predictably, the unsecured access doors of the last stop were still closing as the car sank another four meters. Kess shoved her arm fast between the closing doors so the auto-stop would prevent biting down on a passenger. The doors bounced back open, regardless of the lack of lift at its level, and Luke shoved her ass farther into it until she climbed onto her stomach on their chosen deck.

Luke climbed up seconds later, finding themselves now in a long, wide east-west hallway of fine office clusters, complete with framed posters of politicians hanging on the walls.

"We're getting close."

They ran. Someone tried to shoot at them from ahead, but Kess blocked the shot and bounced it back to land on the angle of wall. The opponent dove away and out of sight. They ran. Kess mentally thanked him for making her run that fucking grinder because she wasn't out of breath yet. And they ran some more.

The hallway opened up to a huge circular lobby wrapping around a coliseum-sized interior structure. These halls were oddly empty, but hundreds of scared and angry people spiked out on the Force from inside.

"This is it." He dashed left, searching the tall wall of this enclosed coliseum for the best way in, and to determine how far up or down they were from its full height. The spread of scared people reached far overhead and far below. One fancy entrance with its slammed shut archway seemed no different than the next, Luke lunged forward to try to figure out how to get it open.

But Kess grabbed his shirtsleeve. "No wait." Her eyes searched up and searched down, and pointed. "He's at the bottom. Underneath it."

Luke looked around for another elevator but remembered the layout from the drawings enough to know none of the lifts from this lobby would reach down to the Chancellor's chambers below. And these decks and ceilings were too thick with blast armor to cut through with a lightsaber.

It was a puzzle. Kess sensed panicked politicians inside still trying to claw their way out from every level. They could probably unlock the doors with Telekinesis, but they'd be flooded by panicking people the moment a door opened. Luke sensed a herd of Coruscant guard holding position on the outside skin of the building, holding back any Alliance help from outside. Luke and Kess were stuck in the abandoned lobby between the two crowds.

As Luke's eyes scanned the situation with severity, he pulled out his commlink and waited for connection.

"Yes?" It was Mon Mothma. And she was anticipating this call.

"We're here. But we're still trying to get inside."

"How long?"

He looked around and shook his head. "Couple minutes."

"Copy." Click.

Kess stood at the ready for all this, watching the halls with lightsaber _en guard_ in case of attack. None came. All the guards were outside holding back the Alliance. And the building's security was holding back the Empire inside.

Luke's eyes kept his fast figuring scan of the area as he thumbed another connection. "Artoo, what's your twenty?"

The droid beeped through the comm. Both Luke and Kess immediately turned that direction and leapt into a run counter-clockwise around the massive lobby. Artoo continued to report his attempts and successes as they ran nearly a half a klick for him, finally appearing around the great circle and plugged into a wall comm.

"Hero of the day," Luke smiled in his running and immediately covered Artoo's six in case the droid's efforts were disrupted by blaster fire. No one was around, but that didn't matter. Kess too covered his other quarter and did the same as they waited for Artoo to make his move.

He whistled a question, and Kess answered. "No. He's already here. Down in the Chancellor's chambers."

Another question.

"She's on her way."

Artoo piped a happy, _Copy that_ , and swiveled his face back to get to work.

A few meters away, a short little access hatch opened in the wall, guarded by lasers so that only droids could get through. The three of them hopped to it and Luke slashed down to cut the lasers off the frame.

Artoo rolled right into it, Luke ducked in after him, and Kess crouched in behind. Lightsabers disappeared and latched to belts. With a pause, she used the Force to close the hatch again so no one would suspect where they went.

All three of them were silent to crawl through these access tubes. These were meant only for certain droids, which made it difficult for two full sized humans to maneuver through some places. They reached what would be considered a droid lift, except there was no lift; droids were designed to do that themselves. Artoo rolled over the space with a 'tallyho' and fired his thrusters to slow his decent. Luke and Kess both peaked over to see how far the droid lowered down to know where they should stop too.

Artoo paused and shined a light out from the porthole to show where he waited.

It was only a half dozen levels, and there were plenty of frames and tracks to use as handholds. Kess was ready to climb down.

"That'll take too long," Luke said, pulling out his grappling hook and threaded out an eye-balled measure of line.

Kess waited and watched as he hooked the grappling securely on a frame nearby and wrapped the distant end of the line around his wrist and hand. He motioned her over with his other.

A jump to a sudden stop? With the weight of both of them? Kess squeaked. "You're going to take your own hand off doing it like that."

He wiggled his tied fingers with a grin. "Not this one."

Even cyborgenics couldn't handle this kind of maneuver, but Kess accepted that if he lost it, he'd just get another one. She shuffled herself to sit beside him over the edge, both sets of boots dangling over the endless pit, and angled over to hug his body and grip his tunic with all her might.

"Ready, set . . . _go_ —

They jumped together and _SLAMMED_ to a stop. He slipped from her grip in the sudden force of it, but her hands continued to squeeze, almost ripping his tunic, in the desperation not fall farther. Luke's left hand came down and grabbed her forearm with precision. For a split second, Kess dangled and looked up wide-eyed at the man that had her.

"I've got you," he almost grinned to say it.

She almost grinned too, and instantly gripped his clothes to lift herself back up his body, now reaching boots out to the framework on the side and removed her weight. She climbed up the side of the shaft. Luke set his boots out for footholds too and quickly climbed up after her.

Artoo bent over them from the porthole with his helpful light, warbling jokes as they climbed to get to him.

Luke whispered at him to shut up. They were close now, and they didn't want anyone to hear them coming.

During the jump, the locket had dropped further down his sock and under his heal. Afraid he was going to break the possibly fragile solder-line, Luke stepped gently until they were down the tunnel and on the other side of the final entrance.

Kess sat down in the tunnel and closed her eyes to sense out. "He's in there," she whispered almost inaudibly. "But they're doing something to him. He's not . . . he's not exactly conscious."

As she spoke, Luke took the opportunity to pull off his boot and nudge the locket back to the upper part of his sock.

"What's the matter?"

"I've got something stuck in my shoe." Despite all that was going on, he couldn't help but grin about this development.

Kess watched with exasperation that he just moved it out of the way and stuffed his boot back on with the thing still in there. " _Well, get it out!_ "

"It's fine. It's okay." But still he couldn't help but smile at the humor of it. He forced his attention back to business. "Let's do this."

He crawled forward and whispered Artoo to get behind them. It was a struggle for the two of them to slip passed the droid in the tight space, but soon they were side by side, crouching on one knee in front of the final access hatch. Hilts came off belts at the ready.

They eyed each other . . . breathed . . . and nodded.

Force Telekinesis opened the locked hatch. Kess's blade came out first. Already they were hearing blaster fire and the inner rim accent of shouting. At first, all Kess did was cover Luke from blast shots until he came to his feet and ignited his own blade. Then he deftly blocked shots as she came to her feet beside him. In seconds, four Red Guards were on the floor, dead from their own fire, and the front half of the Grand Moff's blaster was flying into the wall.

Luke immediately shoved his forearm against the officer's chest and slammed him into the wall. Jakobi put his hands up in hope that surrender was an option.

But Luke didn't strike him. He just ripped the commlink from Jakobi's hand and stuffed it into a pocket. He held the man at bay with his arms and the power of a constant Force Push.

As soon as the coast was clear, Kess leapt on top of the desk and sliced the interrogator droid in half. A protocol droid shuffled away in a panic. She didn't want to, but she had to slice him in half too. He sizzled and warbled as he fell. She disengaged her blade and slid off the desk to her feet beside the big chair of Darth Tovecus.

"Nik?" Gently, she removed his helmet. It _was_ Nik, staring blank and unblinking at the desktop, his mouth slack with spittle on his lips. His body shuddered weakly. She unraveled the droids finger grips from his hand. She unplugged the voice-cap from his throat, and she grimaced to rip off the mind control capsule from the skin on the back of his neck. "Nikolai. It's me, Kess." She moved around to his front, practically sitting on the desk to put herself in front of him. She took his face with both hands and made him look at her. "Nik?"

Mouth parted, eyes bloodshot, shoulders slumped from rapidly repeated shock treatment, Nik's eyes searched out for understanding in the blur.

They didn't have time for this. Kess cringed to have to do it, but she reached hard over her own shoulder and backhanded his face. "Nik!"

Nik's head whipped to the side at the blow, but he blinked more, and angry. He returned to sit up to recover from it but now ready to fight back this strange attacker.

Kess scrambled to pull out the wedding locket from her tunic and wagged it into his face. "Nikolai! It's me! Kay Kay! Nikolai, _see me!"_

Brown eyes spun to find the rocking white locket in front of his face like he was being hypnotized by it. He began to sit up in the oversized chair.

"You're too late," Jakobi chuckled at all this in spite of being pinned to the wall by a Jedi. "He's mine now."

A familiar voice spoke, _Nikolai, lad, find the brightness_.

But only three of the four people in the room could hear it.

Kess smiled as Nik's eyes began to find her behind the locket. "Nik, listen to grandpa," she said. "It's me, Kay Kay."

Nik's eyes opened with hope, with understanding, but it was foggy at best. Anger constricted his face as he searched the room, saw the dead guards and found the Jedi holding Jakobi against the wall by the forearms. All watched him for his reaction.

Nik's teeth tightened with fresh anger. He climbed from the chair using the desk to steady himself, and stumbled over to Luke and Jakobi. Kess rushed up to stop the impending struggle, calling his name as she reignited her blade, but didn't know what she could do to stop this.

Luke's eyes widened, trying to figure out how to manage both men in the same fight without hurting either. He let his body get ripped away from Jakobi by Nik's angry hands.

Brown eyes flared with wrath, but not at Luke. Nik grabbed Jakobi by the gray uniform and lifted his feet off the floor to slam him harder against the wall, shouting into the man's face.

 _"YOU TOLD ME THERE'D BE COOKIES!"_

Kess almost laughed, Luke blinked back with a grin, but both went immediately back to work to calm Nik and secure Jakobi once more.

"Nik?" She made him turn to her and talked up into his face, talking fast and quiet. "Nik, look at me. I need you with me. You want to be a Jedi? We've got Jedi work to do. Can you see me? Can you hear me? Nikolai, come on. Snap out of it."

Nik continued to rub his face like he just woke up. His eyes continued to spin around the room and the action therein trying to figure out what was going on. Obviously, his humor was coming back, but Nik was not 'back' yet. He still looked at her as though he didn't know who she was.

Meanwhile, Kess tossed Luke the voice-cap and Luke caught it out of the air. He pressed Jakobi to the floor and stabbed the voice-cap it into the other man's throat with an apology. Jakobi's eyes bulged. He opened his mouth to try to complain and talk, but it only came out in a whispered cough.

 _Twee twee tweet_

Luke yanked Jakobi to his feet and pulled out his own commlink. "We're ready."

Kess looked at Luke and shook her head that they weren't.

"Use Persuade," he told her as he stuffed his commlink away.

"On my own brother?"

Luke nodded and chinned her to get moving onto the Red Guard part of the plan.

Kess struggled to catch up, speaking urgently up at her tall brother's face. "Nik, bud, we gotta go." She stepped over and picked up the helmet and returned to him. "Put this on."

"What's happening?" Nik grumbled like he was nauseous.

Kess helped him get it back onto his head. "You are about to become an Emperor."


	39. LL5 38 Cease Fire

Inside the Senate Dome, hundreds of system politicians milled about and yelled panic at each other. Some watched the tiny vids at their stations to watch hints of the battle outside. It was impossible to tell which side was winning from scattered reports. All they knew was that the battle raged on, as much on the Coruscant surface as the local space beyond. They were all still trapped inside the building, but most realized this was probably the safest place on the planet and many returned to their assigned seats.

Safe, that is, until the Chancellor's Spire shot up through the central throat of the well, now with Darth Tovecus in command and two Red Guards holding Grand Moff Jakobi at bay behind him with stun staves.

(Some noticed that one Red Guard was significantly shorter than the other, but no one thought to wonder why.)

Conversation sputtered to a near silence as the helmeted Dark Lord looked around at them like he was seeing all these people for the first time. He seemed angry at their defiance. Newsnet seekers spun to capture this new development and angled closer for a better cap. The shorter Red Guard stepped up beside Darth Tovecus like an aide and switched on the open channel. The man's heavy breathing sprayed through every speaker in the room as he glared through his visor at them all.

He spoke haltingly, but loud and powerful. "My name . . . is Darth Tovecus!"

The words echoed through every speaker in the giant room. It repeated through every vid cap of every Newsnet. It echoed through every channel on the Imperial network. And it silenced all attack commands on every channel in the Alliance.

"And I . . . hereby . . . claim the throne . . . of Emperor!"

Jakobi tried to shout but he only gripped his throat in pain. Some politicians shouted from their stations, but their mikes were muted by the Chancellor's command console. Most sat stunned by a new fear of this development.

Throughout the battle, Moffs exchanged glances of alarm with Admirals. Generals exchanged looks of confusion with Captains. Mon Calamari began to grin at Wookiees. Stormtroopers paused for new orders. X-Wings stopped firing to listen.

Now standing in the giant circular lobby, surrounded with a political crew of Alliance ambassadors and a full complement of General Madine's top troops, Mon Mothma and Leia listened and waited.

Inside the Senate atop the spire, the Dark Lord seemed unsteady. His body waved like he was drunk, but his voice was powerful enough to take heed. "And . . . as your Emperor . . . I command . . . all troops. . . ." His voice began to die. "Cease fire."

A galactic pause. Did they hear him right?

Fumbling, Darth Tovecus raised his hands and took off his helmet. It was him! The one they tested! The one with royal Kenobi blood. His brown hair a mess from the helmet. His face contorted with surprise, or confusion, or from dizziness, but his angry order came back with strength. Nik's lips twitched. He shouted out as loud as his lungs could carry it. " _Cease Fire!"_

Nik's lungs were pretty damn loud already, but the short Red Guard beside him cranked up the volume of his open channel until they could almost hear her murmuring too, "again _."_

"Cease Fire!"

The voice carried through the airwaves and shot out through the speakers of every Imperial ship in the vicinity.

"Cease Fire!"

In the momentary pause of TIE pilots second-guessing the order, Alliance fighters locked on and blew them out of the sky.

"Cease Fire!"

Blast shots from troopers and ships alike dribbled to a stop, rippling out over space. Some ships continued to defend themselves, and others ignored the order entirely.

"Cease Fire!"

The order erupted from all comm-stations of Star Destroyers. Though Imperial Admirals and Captains knew it was subterfuge, they watched in stiff silence as the number one weakness of an autocracy stopped the Empire in its tracks.

One command from the Emperor. That's all it took. Most of the honor-bound, patriotic, and brainwashed Imperial Forces didn't blink to follow it, regardless of their lack of understanding of what was really happening. Localized shouts ordered the firing to commence but had no influence to override a command from the Emperor.

Admiral Ackbar turned his head and shouted the same into his own mike. "Cease fire!"

A-wings pulled away from targets.

Madine eyed the ground troops, paused in their shots, and shouted the same into his comm. "Cease fire!" As soon as they stopped, new shots fired back at them.

Alliance troops took the chance to rush ahead with silent rifles and disarmed stormtroopers one by one. In other places, stormtroopers did the same to the invading rebel scum.

Sikey echoed the command to spread throughout her cruiser. "Cease Fire!"

Star Destroyers listed silently in drift, staring dumbly down at Mon Calamari cruisers staring back at them.

The whole of Coruscant, civilians, Imperials, and Alliance alike, all paused for a breath of relief to realize they were no longer being shot at. Heads poked up to take advantage and knocked down opposing forces with non-fatal blows. Civilians peered around corners and tripped soldiers nearby on both sides of this mess. Skirmishes erupted where hand-to-hand combat launched into action, but most incidents were over as quickly as they began.

On thousands of vid screens, Wubak put her finger to listen in her ear, ensuring what she heard, and interrupted the other reporter, "Emperor Tovecus has called for a galaxy-wide Cease Fire."

In the breathless shock now silencing the hundreds inside the Senate Dome, Jakobi whispered harshly at the Red Guard towering him. "To replace the Empire with an Emperor of your own." He almost grinned. "Won't work."

"Wait until you see what our Emperor is going to do," Luke murmured back from inside the red helmet.

Darth Tovecus was already speaking again, the command and certainty in his voice growing stronger. "Command . . . and representatives . . . are hereby ordered . . . to report to the Senate Dome."

Nik blinked down and back up again. His consciousness was clearly strengthening in his mind, but he was confused. He looked to the short Red Guard by his side and his voice accidently carried the question across every speaker. "Which ones?"

The Red Guard took off her helmet with a growing smile. " _All_ of them."

Nik didn't understand, but he followed the command with fervor. " _All of them!_ All Representatives! All Command! Are hereby ordered to report to the Senate Dome!"

* * *

Carefully, and with guard up to protect themselves, the few remaining politicians reps slunk around the Senate chambers to return to their assigned seats. Forcibly, and with ready guns to fire back, three Alliance troop transports pushed forward through the battle line and aimed to land on the planet. Defiantly, but without shooting at anything, Star Destroyers angled back towards the planet and dropped transports filled with military command to fight this tactic in person. Timidly, and with big smiles, Luke and Kess shed their Red Guard helmets and robes, tossed away blasters, and ignited their lightsabers.

Murmurs of confusion and alarm rolled throughout to witness this.

Kess reached in front of Nik to the controls spoke into his mike for him. "Please remain in your seats." She unlocked the outer doors, advertised by the snapping of door lights throughout the room.

A hundred doors opened at once. The lungs of government began to inhale more politicians and military command.

Luke and Kess watched from behind Nik's padded shoulders as Alliance Senators began cautiously stepping into the chamber as well, taking up any circular Senate station not already occupied by another group. Blasters remained at the ready, but every time someone twitched to fire, Kess ordered in a murmur, and Nik ordered again.

"CEASE FIRE!"

It took a few minutes, and skirmishes spiked up from time to time, but Luke and Kess kept Nik standing in command to shout out those same orders again and again, as often as needed. Luke pulled Jakobi up by the arm to stand at the port side of the Chancellor's spire and wait there. Kess stepped back with guarding blade at the starboard side. The chambers quickly crowded with new people, many shouting through the air to be heard beyond their muted microphones.

Grand Moffs and Imperial Admirals stormed in. One pulled a blaster to shoot directly at Nik, but Luke sucked it out of the distant man's palm and let it drop into the well below them.

Nik hardly flinched at it. "Have a seat."

Soon, all the Senate seats were occupied, and crowds more cluttered standing-room-only in the walkways behind them. Several Imperial officers took command of a Senate seat of their own and prepared to shout out arguments the moment Nik lifted the mute command from it all. Mom Mothma, with Leia at her flank, marched in through a mid-level door and politely asked the nearest system group to allow them use of their own.

Gray-uniformed Imperials lifted blasters across the open space. Green-clad rebels lifted rifles in warning of firing back.

Nik didn't need to be ordered to shout it again. "Cease fire!"

Luke saw that they were ready, and turned to Jakobi. He yanked the voice-cap from the Grand Moff's throat and tossed the thing overboard.

Kess reached over and typed in the release of Mon Mothma's new Senate seat so the Chief Commander could fly her and her team across the air toward the spire. Imperials shouted at their muted mikes until Kess reached over to the console and released them too.

Surprised, the Imperials shut up. Angry, they flew across the space as if racing the other side from arriving at the spire first. But the two boats arrived almost at the same time, securing on either side of the spire to disembark on the Chancellor's stamen, face to face with one another.

Back to back with Kess, Luke held his green blade in warning at Jakobi and the Imperials. Kess kept her amber blade in symbolic warning at Mon Mothma and the Alliance team. Then Kess nudged Nik a step away from the console to unblock his body from the Chancellor's mike to allow all to watch and hear.

The Jedi were finally able to do what Jedi were supposed to do: facilitate safe mediation.

Mon Mothma took one slight step forward beside the opposite shoulder of the Jedi woman standing guard beside her, and faced Grand Moff Jakobi with a calm strength. Jakobi strolled a cocky step forward, eyeing Luke to ensure he wasn't about to be sliced as soon as he was within reach, and lifted his chin to stare back at Mon Mothma with distaste. Their voices carried everywhere as more and more distant channels switched over to watch and hear.

Jakobi demanded with strength. "The Empire has no intention of surrender!"

Mon Mothma's voice was normal. "No one asked you to surrender." She angled her head. "I would simply like to call a vote."

 _"A vote?"_ Jakobi grimaced with disgust. "We're at war!"

Mon Mothma lifted her chin. "I propose a vote to continue this Cease Fire. Allow all parties to tend safely to their wounded. And request all representatives return to these Chambers at Zero Eight Hundred tomorrow to commence non-violent negotiations."

In the pregnant pause, the Admiral's eyes flicked to the Emperor, now half-turned from the console to watch all this, and realized his puppet leader would be of no help.

Nik shattered the silence when he shot his hand into the air. "Aye."

The building erupted in noise. Representatives shot to their feet and shouted anew. Fists waved in the air. Muted by the Chancellor's console, the hundreds of people crowding the chambers cupped palms and fins and claws around their speaking mouths and found themselves hollering in a repeated chant.

"Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye!. . . .

Leia couldn't help to grin out at it all.

Kess glanced around with delighted surprise at the echoing chant.

An Imperial Admiral looked around the room and murmured. "This is ludicrous."

The Alliance Chief Commander lifted her hand across the space and offered handshake at Grand Moff Jakobi.

Luke lowered his guarding green blade and stepped out of the man's way.

The audience continued to chant, "Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye! . . . Aye!. . . .

Kess moved her lightsaber further afar from the Alliance and stepped closer behind Nik's shoulder.

The Admiral gazed over the insurrection in the room, looked at Mon Mothma, and raised his hand to shake back. "Tomorrow," he threatened.

"Tomorrow," Mon Mothma agreed with a nod. They both turned away.

Every individual in the Senate Dome launched to their feet and began shouting demands and fears and victory and insults. The collection atop the Chancellor's spire to disembarked to their separate lifts and floated away farther, leaving only three people to remain at the Chancellor's command console.

More lucid now, Nik slapped down to mute his mike and murmured at his shoulder to Kess. His chin gestured to the departing Alliance crew. "Shouldn't we go with them?"

"No." Kess shook her head, still in awe of the empowered politicians around them. "We're neutral." She looked her brother in the eye. "The Jedi are neutral."

As soon as both hovercraft banked away, Luke reached over to the console, and initiated the spire to shrink back down into the well.

* * *

Throughout the galaxy, eyes glued to vid screens in open-mouthed shock of Wubak's live report, and even she was half-turned in her chair to watch the vidcap feed of the Chancellor's Spire as all this went down.

"This is an historic day. Grand Moff Jakobi and Chief Commander Mon Mothma have _shaken hands_ to hold the cease fire. The Alliance and the Empire agreed to return tomorrow and begin peace talks in open forum."

Famous for her calm demeanor and leveled reporting, even the blue-faced news anchor smiled in awe as she turned to the camera with honest amazement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we may have just witness the first real step towards the end of this war."


	40. LL5 39 Aftermath

In the sky, lifeboats roamed ozone and gently pulled ejected pilots out of the sky, and it didn't matter which side of the conflict the pilot had fought. On Alliance carriers, emergency med droids treated TIE pilots with the same triage rules as the X-wing pilots. On Imperial destroyers, Y-wing pilots were shoved into secured compartments and jailed with a med droid of their own.

On the ground, troopers didn't come out from behind their chosen cover, but rifles lifted into the air to stop aiming. Rebels secure their positions in the streets, but they lowered their rifles to point at the ground. Civilians peeked from their hiding places, scrambled to retrieve the fallen and held out palms at soldiers of both sides to help wounded reach medical facilities.

* * *

Alliance ground troops managed footholds in several districts of the Coruscant surface, but they gladly stopped where they were, allowing the Empire to further secure their own hold on neighboring precincts. Chewie could easily see where the battle lines rested from his perch on the base railing of a planetary gun. The gun was silent now because its operator was on his knees in front of the Wookiee's warning crossbow, but both captor and captive looked over the nearby landscape to see the fighting was coming to an end.

Chewie ripped off the man's hat and grabbed him by the back of his hair to yank him to his feet. He marched the soldier forward down the gangway and the back stairs of the gun tower. As he looked around, Chewie called out a long, loud call.

Blue eyes scanned the fallen, the corners of buildings, the distant railings. . . .

He called out again, " _Hhhhhaaaaaaaaannnnn!_ "

In time, he found him. Han lay in a crumpled lump amongst three others where blaster fire had rained down on them all. Chewie rushed over and rolled the Han onto his back. A furry hand grabbed the unconscious face and shook it. Chewie lifted his face to his captive and lowered the crossbow with a hooting order, then waved the man off to go free.

Chewie wrapped his crossbow to hang over his front and grabbed Han by the arm and leg to lift the man onto his back. The Imperial hesitated to bring down his hands when he realized what was happening. His eyes shifted back up the stairs to the gun, and flicked back to the Wookiee to wonder if he could make it.

Chewie adjusted the limp body on his shoulders and stared the man down. His eyes flicked the other way, telling the soldier to return to his people.

Two rebel troopers arrived at the scene and aimed their rifles, but Chewie barked at them. The Imperial watched, but Chewie flicked his eyes again. _Go to your people._

Carefully, with hands raised, the Imperial stepped beyond the rebels and rushed away. Chewie adjusted Han on his shoulders once more and walked fast for the nearest medical help.

* * *

Rogue Four touched his thrusters to settle his X-wing to a stop amongst the debris. Rogan finally pulled his hands from the controls and rubbed his face under the visor, but he recovered with a cracking voice. "Rogue Four to Rogue Leader."

No answer.

Rogan sighed hard and looked around. He could see some of his team out there. The next order of business was to figure out who. "Rogue Four to Rogue Group. Muster on my position and report in." He flipped on his muster beacon and looked out the cockpit for signs of other survivors. "Does anyone have a twenty on Rogue Leader?"

One by one, X-wings cruised carefully toward him from distant clusters of capital ships and battle flak. His mind registered with increased relief as pilots reported in. Not all of them called in, but Ardor spoke over the channel with a hopeful tone that he spotted Jewie successfully eject before her ship flamed out. Seth was stuck in his dead ship without thrusters and called that he was fine to wait until a rescue boat had the chance to come get him. But no Wedge.

In loose formation, and slow enough to ensure they didn't look like they were on another attack run, the remaining X-wings of Rogue Group cruised back over to the _Mon Icarus,_ angled themselves outside the hanger bay, and requested permission to land.

The request was declined.

Instead of seeing their repair crew on the bright-lighted deck, hauling in ejected pilots from tractor beams and waving in wands to lead them home, the hangar deck was hardly more than a gaping charred wound on the side of the carrier. A flickering shield barely contained its contents. A TIE Fighter still rested where it had splashed to bits on the deck, its polygon panels tangled with undeniable pieces of X-Wing, and all of that sat amidst scattering of army-green, flight-suited bodies.

* * *

Civilians began to emerge from their hiding places and swarmed the streets in clusters. A Togrutan shop owner led the charge towards a crash of a ship shot down during the fighting. Helping hands pulled wounded neighbors from broken bits of buildings and checked for life in the bodies still lying on the ground. Blasters warned defensively as more advanced along the skid marks in the street to the blackened lump of _Lady Luck_. The Togrutan climbed onto the mess and pulled away what was left of the broken cockpit window.

The rebel pilot inside was bloody and coughing. Lando tried to squint through the burns on his face, and coughed some more. Blood came to his brown lips. He panted with weakening strength and closed his eyes again.

With blaster aimed at the Rebel's face, the Togrutan merchant looked the enemy over. . . .

Then handed his blaster back to the assisting civilian behind him, and reached in with both hands to pull the pilot out of the wreckage.

* * *

The cease fire sounded clear enough over the transport's speaker, but that didn't matter because they were already hit. Their transport was supposed to be far behind the firing line for all this, but the scramble of battle had several transports moving out to the side to keep from getting pinned by the Imperial reinforcements arriving from behind.

The transport was pummeled by fire from a Star Destroyer for only a minute, but it nailed their maneuvering thrusters almost immediately. Sitting in rows of six across, packed like sardines from fore to aft, and peering wide-eyed out the tiny portholes to watch the flashing beams dash by them, support crew tightened seatbelts and gripped armrests. The ship shuddered and rocked at every hit; then, when the firing stopped, the ship continued to rattle and moan. It listed sideways as it sank into the gravity well.

At first it seemed like they were just still trying to maneuver around the debris out there, but when they fell fast passed a dead planetary shield station, the truth became obvious. New flames of uncontrolled atmo friction against the hull further insisted the reality.

They were crashing.

Joanne's black eyes looked beyond the flames of uncontrolled re-entry to watch the gem of a planet below, and thought with ironic humor about once again getting burnt in a battle.

* * *

With the decrease of the tension, so did Nik's energy. He struggled to remain awake and functional as they moved out of the Chancellor's chambers. Luke and Kess draped his arms across their shoulders as the three emerged from the lift and onto the Chancellor's private landing pad. Artoo deftly followed behind. Luke only had to warn away the Coruscant Guard with a green lightsaber to clear their way toward a covered hovercraft. They poured Nik into the backseat where Kess climbed in after him, Artoo rolled himself up to a spot in the floor space, and Luke jumped into the pilot's cockpit.

He flew up as the sun was going down, merging with other renewed traffic in the high lanes of the sky. Kess and Nik were soon staring out the windows to the destruction below. Skyscrapers were in flame from crashing ships. Troops were still on the move through surface streets. Civilians gathered in gangs to loot businesses. In the dimming sky above, capital ships looked like clusters of stars. Red and green bolts occasionally lit up in corners and in the air, but ended just as quickly. The cease fire was holding where it could.

When Kess demanded to know where they were going, but Luke admitted that he hadn't thought this far ahead. The next step in this battle was all politics, and the Jedi had to remain entirely neutral for it to work. They couldn't even _appear_ to be favoring sides. As two decorated soldiers of the Alliance, they had a long way to walk back toward that Galactic trust of neutrality.

Soon, Luke found them a hotel on the edge of the Senate District, one that was far from high class but still offered an hourly-rental med droid for Nik. He dropped the two off on the landing strip outside and Kess did a double-take when Luke didn't get out too.

"I have to go find Vanech," Luke told her darkly.

Kess accepted it with severity and nodded. "Be safe."

"Stay with him." Luke ordered her. "All night." He pulled out the Jedi account credit chip and handed it to her. "I'll check us into the survivor list."

Again, she nodded, and hooked her elbow into Nik's to lead him into the building. Artoo whistled well wishes her as she shut the craft's door, and Luke flew away.

Nik watched it go like he still wasn't sure who that was. "Don't we need security or guards or something?"

Kess led him arm-in-arm toward the building. "We _are_ the guards, Nik."

Upon entering the room, Kess locked them in and activated the window dimmers. She tried to usher Nik to the couch and to lay down, but he didn't. The man had recovered a large part of his alertness already though he seemed dead tired. His brown eyes scanned the room with distrust, absorbing where they were and where they just came from, and finally recognized that the nightmare was over.

Nik turned his feet to look at his sister, and wrapped his arms fully around her shoulders, burying his face in the side of her hair. Kess absorbed it gratefully, sighing with equal relief that her brother was okay, and let him hang on her like that as long as he wanted.

After a minute, Nik pulled away. His eyes still looked a little lost, but Kess activated the med droid and Nik he saw what was next. He began to unbutton the rich velvet of the dark blue tunic to bare his chest and arms for its care. They were worried most about damage to his heart from the shock treatments and kept him connected to a pulse monitor. A blood test confirmed that he still had quite a cocktail of mind-altering drugs in his system and the med droid recommended a bacta cleanse, but the hospitals with such facilities were likely flooded with people who needed it more right now. Nik tiredly asked for the risks if he didn't do that today. The med droid reported that Nik would be susceptible to suggestion for as long as it was in his system.

Kess sat sideways beside him on the couch and quipped. "It's your turn to shovel the sand out of the driveway."

Nik rolled his head on the back of the couch to peer at her. She grinned until she realized he seemed to truly question the validity of her statement. Perhaps he was a little more drugged than she thought.

"Where's Gina and Ben?"

"Dad took them to Nekisa for a couple of days to wait this out. We'll ship them here as soon as we're sure the fighting is over."

"Why can't I go to them?" The drugs had him pouting like a toddler. "I want to go home."

"We need you here." Kess tried to console him. "I'll explain it tomorrow. . . . Just rest."

Kess settled in on the couch beside him and let her brother relax. The med droid hummed to monitor his heartbeat and often reached over a tool to test his temperature and brain activity. Kess considered if she should turn on a Newsnet to see what was going on out there, but she realized her brother needed a chance to decompress. She considered calling Leia to report where they were, but opted against it. Everyone in the galaxy knew they were safe because of the vidcaps of the Senate Dome. It didn't really matter where the Jedi hid out the night.

She worried about friends and family though. She and Luke witnessed so little of the battle itself and they suffered a continued blindness of who lived and who died. The survivor list often took a lot of hours. The KIA list took days. Kess curled up in a ball on the couch beside her brother and meditated against the worry.

* * *

Luke ran with a lightsaber in his hand, but didn't ignite it. Artoo raced to keep up behind. With the cease fire still so fragile, he was prepared for blaster fire at every turn, but rarely faced it. Still, he avoided Imperial troops wherever possible, and gradually made his way on foot back across the kilometers between the Senate Dome and the Imperial Palace.

He could sense Vanech occasionally during the fight. He didn't say anything to Kess because she needed to focus on Nik's location, and now the Force pulsed with a thick blackness that Luke _didn't want_ to tell her what was happening anymore.

He didn't recognize anything around here. The expanse of this map was so large it was severely inconvenient, if not impossible, to find the places they'd traveled when they were here for the Plan Cresh mission. He went only by the memory of Vanech's drawings, making his way nearly to the foot of the black mountain Palace before finding a lift to take him down into the underworks.

He could already smell the charred flesh in his nose, the noxious scent of death on the Force, when he stepped out of the lift just below the Palace shield level. Curling through hallways and breaking through from front to back of offices and apartments, he was already finding the sliced bodies of Imperial troops. Cops, stormtroopers, officers, pilots that never made it to their craft. Drifting further down and away from occupied structures, he began to find civilians too. Men stabbed while they were guarding their women. Arms with no bodies. Bodies with no legs. Parents still gripping children while the top half of both bodies lay grumbled on the ground beside the bottom half.

 _We should've left him on Yavin 4. We shouldn't've_ _taken_ _him to Yavin 4. We should've. . . ._

 _We should've . . . ._

But it no longer matter what they should have or should not have done. The dead were already dead.

Finally, the long trail of bodies skittered to an end in front of another broken elevator shaft.

Luke climbed down the shaft to the first opening and stepped out into the darkness of that grand open lobby of the Jedi Temple, sliced over the top by a pale blue palace shield.

Artoo hovered to his wheels behind him. His beeps echoed in the big, short chamber.

"Just keep track so we can find our way back." Luke said. He pulled a hand lamp out of his belt and started walking.

He could still feel Vanech out there, throbbing with numbness. Paralyzed by pain. The long walk made Luke wonder how to handle it, but all he could think to do was grip his hilt harder, ready to defend.

After many minutes of walking, Luke began to see an orange dot of the bud of a death stick in the blackness. His feet slowed, but he continued to approach until he could see the man in the beam of his light as well. Vanech sat against the foot of a severed Jedi statue like he had fallen against it. The little lightsaber hilt was perched on the base above his head and behind him, as if the man had ceremoniously turned it in to the stone figure of someone named Halsey.

"Don't come closer," Vanech said without looking over.

"Zach—

"Don't talk."

Luke rubbed his lips shut and kept his feet still, allowing the man to say what he needed to say.

Vanech smoked his death stick for a long, quiet minute. Then finally commented, "Evil begets evil."

Luke didn't know what to say to that. Agreeing didn't seem like it would help.

"How do you stop the cycle?" Vanech murmured.

The Jedi breathed silently, trying to think of something wise to say, and finally admitted. "I don't know."

Vanech hitched a wry grin at his answer. Ice eyes looked over and squinted into Luke's light beam. "Thank you." He said sincerely. "For trying."

Luke opened his mouth and began to step—

Vanech pulled his fist up from his lap and turned on a thermal detonator.

"Vanech, wait!"

The flashing red light and beeps grew quickly faster, indicated a short fuse setting.

"Go."

Luke tried a Pull to get it out of the man's hands, but was blocked by a black wall on the Force.

"Just go."

With widened eyes, and with the red light beeping faster and faster, Luke realized had no choice. His feet stepped backwards until he turned entirely and ran, all the while calculating if he'd had enough time to tackle Vanech instead. In the seconds, he considered turning to run back and—

 ** _Snap-BOOOM!_**

The force of the blow reached out horizontally in all directions, shocing Luke onto his stomach. He splayed like a swatted bug against the deck. Artoo wailed and tumbled into a little roll, resting finally against one leg on his side. Luke covered his head with his forearms, more so from the grief and failure than anything else. It wasn't a very big bomb but, in the thin wafer of space, it created a hell of a force along the decrepit temple lobby.

The loudness rang in his ears and echoed to the distance. Cracked wall panels crumbled a few moments longer. Artoo pulled himself back to his own rolling feet and queried with concern if Luke was okay. Luke pushed up from the deck and climbed to his feet.

The statue was gone. Vanech was gone. There was a hole in the floor big enough to fit his X-Wing through. And the dim blue palace shield remained a steadfast ceiling over it all.

Luke closed his eyes and stretched his neck as if to pray at the sky, but there was no sky. The reverberations of the explosion slowly echoed away to a bleak silence. It was quieter down here. Not just lacking the noises of the overwhelming city, but also—by a significant amplitude—lacking the billions of minds emitting their emotional buzz onto the Force.

Luke concentrated now to calm his own. This had been a grueling day. Although he couldn't make anyone out specifically, even down here he could still feel the distant panic and pain and sorrow reverberating through the Force. It was as if the battle itself was a bomb, and the shock and turmoil suffered by the survivors were the burning flame and sonic boom to echo away from the explosion.

Patience, he reminded himself. That horrible echo will eventually thunder itself to completion, but it was going to take days, if not weeks, perhaps months. Luke opened his eyes and looked around the blackness of this unlit cavern, remembering where he really was, and realized that some fading echoes of loss took decades.

The battles were the easy part. The long haul of recovery was the harder challenge.

But in his one stolen moment of calm and concentration, a mental scream echoed out on the Force. Another sonic boom of emotion. The anguish was incredible. The tears instant. Luke knew immediately who it was. His eyes widened in his own terror of it. He didn't bother latching his lightsaber back to his belt before turning on his feet and diving into a hard run.

* * *

It was near morning when Luke returned to the hotel and Kess sensed instantly that he was bundle of nerves. He didn't tell her what happened. His eyes said it for him. Kess had managed to get Nik to sleep on one of the beds and proceeded to administer similar care to Luke too. She led him to a chair. Numbly, he followed the order to sit down, but then he just sat there, staring at the air with dejected disbelief. Kess gently began to take off his clothes for him so he could take a shower.

With his clothes already black, she was surprised to find parts of the fabric burnt to a crisp. She ordered the med droid over to sooth his mild burns, and combed her fingers tenderly along his scalp to break out the singed hair on the back of his head.

His arms snaked around her as she did it, pulling her in to straddle his lap. His face buried in her shoulder. His every muscle was a knot. Even his face was stiff trying to hold it back. But Luke cried. He gripped her hard and shook with turbulence . . . and Luke cried.

She held him with increasing worry. She guessed Vanech was dead, and yes, Vanech was a loss, but there was more to this than that. The emotions screaming through the Force on Coruscant were bad enough than when they were here before, but now that half the planet was reeling from an immense battle, the horror and pain and anger surrounding them felt like a throbbing deep base of an impact drill.

Luke calmed after a few minutes, but he sniffed hard and raised his red face, and guided her away to let him up. Luke still didn't speak. New tears flowed down his face as he rose to his feet and shuffled over to the lav to take a shower.

They only had a few hours before they had to be back in the Senate to keep this cease fire real. Kess didn't waste time on conversation or questions. She only made sure all his clothes made into the laundry porthole before they went to bed. As the laundry rattled, and the med droid beeped Nik's pulse monitor, and the Force throbbed with continuing torment, they wrapped their bodies hard around each other and tried to meditate, tried to rest, for as long as they could.


	41. LL5 40 The Objective

The next day inched by with grueling agony. Luke, Kess, and Nik returned to the Senate Dome looking about as ragged as everyone else. Nik was a little more alert, but he remained untrusting and quiet. The coliseum lobby was a _fucking_ _zoo_. Politicians of every race rushed them as soon as the Jedi were in sight. Reporters were everywhere. Seeker-cam buzzed them like a swarm of bees.

When Threepio came out of the crowd, Kess wanted to hug the droid. Threepio gave them a proper bow and publically presented Mon Mothma's invitation to discuss the next step.

Luke nodded to it and asked the crowd around him, "Will someone please inform the Imperial High Command we will visit them next?"

An Ongree political aide stepped up, nodded a sharp chin, and rushed away.

Per an invitation from Clarissa, Mon Mothma and dozens of Alliance command and Senators gathered in the Helmba Senate offices. As soon as they entered, the discussion halted and Mon Mothma threaded the group to greet Nik directly with the first bow. "Emperor Tovecus, _Mister Lendra_ , it is an honor."

"Please don't call me that," Nik whispered.

Mon Mothma gave him a sympathetic grin. "It is my hope that you will be relieved of that title very soon." She gestured them to a meeting room. "Will you hear my proposal?"

The discussion was not private. The room crowded with people, with more standing in the office lobby to listen in, and more people listened than spoke. Kess recognized many of the people here, but didn't get the chance to inventory who wasn't with them. Overwhelmed with gratefulness for the faster-than-expected cease fire, politicians and assistants offered help of all kinds to the Jedi. A Senator gladly fetched hot cups of java and served it to them himself. Another ordered a tray of healthy snack food so they could get something on their stomachs. Someone even ordered a new set of similar clothes for Luke.

While all this was going on, Mon Mothma explained her plan, but she pressed Nik to recognize that it was only a suggestion. It was up to him whether and how to implement it during the proceedings today.

Not being a politician, Kess would have never thought this plan up, but recognized instantly what Mon Mothma had in mind. It was a solid idea, and she focused her mind on figuring out how to help Nik make it happen despite all the pressure they would get to the contrary. Mon Mothma gave them a datapad with references and bullet points, and ended the discussion by strongly reminding the three of them to visit the Imperial offices as well for _their_ ideas on what should happen next.

"I don't want to go back there," Nik said instantly.

"Luke and I will be there with you. We won't let them do anything more to you."

* * *

The Imperial High Command had confiscated offices down in the Chancellor's chambers and dozens of Red Guard were now protecting _them_ instead anyone else in the building. Jakobi sat in the Chancellor's desk surrounded by a dozen other gray uniforms of old white men. All of them were terribly displeased, but the disruption of their power structure was already clear.

As Jakobi worked to insult and demand Nik and the two Jedi, three other Grand Moffs interrupted to insist that Jakobi had no right to take command in the Emperor's absence. Tovecus was now working for the Jedi, that made him a traitor, and now the Imperials fought over which of _them_ should be in charge instead.

But the loudest argument in the room wasn't about who was in charge; it was about the cease fire. "We could've pushed them off Coruscant and sent the rebels running with their tails between their legs if you hadn't agreed to the cease fire so quickly. Let us resume actions so we can end this war once and for all!"

"The cease fire _is_ the end of the war." Luke angled his chin. "If you let it."

A dozen Imperial officers grimaced at Luke like he was insane, and their voices erupted in the room with a new wave of shouting arguments.

Luke sizzled in stress until he snapped, and silenced the room by igniting his lightsaber.

Eyes widened. Mouths stunned shut. Red Guard shifted and armed their staves in warning.

But Luke only did it to get them all to shut up. He disengaged again as soon as they quieted.

Luke shouted at them, "We've been doing this for _thirty years!"_ His rage bristled. "The more you fight, the more people volunteer for the rebellion. If you walk away from their offer of talks, you'll lose even more systems to them. You're not going to wipe them out by force. And their actions yesterday prove that they don't want to wipe you out either!"

Jakobi spoke to Luke like he was bug. "We will _not_ consort with traitors."

Luke pushed passed Nik to lean over the desk at Jakobi. "Traitors _of_ _what?!_ Palpatine _is dead!_ " He looked the General in the eyes. "Vader _is dead_. . . . Your Empire _is over_."

"We will sort it out _ourselves_ who will ascend to the throne—

Luke spread his hands and hiked his voice. "What do you want? You want a Kenobi? Here's two of 'em! You want a Skywalker? Here's one, the other's down the hall!" He let that sink in and shouted again to send the point home. "You want to make this about bloodline, _go ahead._ We'll beat you at your own game and _still_ do what we've been trying to do all along."

The gray men shut up. Jakobi's voice was tight. "And what would that be?"

" _Stop the fighting."_

The Admirals and Generals and Moffs remained silent, and Luke stood hard to stare them all down.

After a moment, he calmed himself and concluded. "We have the power to ascend to your 'Emperor's throne', and if we do, we could probably convince everyone in that chamber throw all of you out an airlock. But we aren't going to do that. _Because none of us want it_. The three of us are here as a courtesy because we extended the same courtesy to the Alliance. Our goal, _as Jedi_ , is to maintain the cease fire so that all sides can debate, discuss, and decide together what to do next. You are hereby formally invited to join that discussion."

With that, Luke stepped back, eyeing each as he turned around, and motioned Nik and Kess to follow him to the Chancellor's spire in the other room.

Jakobi shot to his feet with a deep inhale to shout, but Luke's palm lifted in the air and stopped the man in his tracks. Jakobi gagged and reached for his throat, but the Force Choke ended nearly as soon as it began.

Luke relaxed his hand. Jakobi breathed in shock.

It was a warning, further pressed by the expression on Luke's angry face.

His still-hovering palm pointed a threatening finger. "Don't piss me off today."

Nervous, Kess followed his path back to the Chancellor's spire. When the door closed, she timidly touched the edge of Luke's hand. "Find you peace, please?" There was enough going on to cause these kinds of fractured nerves in anyone, but Luke seemed to be suffering it worse than his usual, even at a time like this.

Luke licked tight lips and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath to decide what to say and how to say it, then met her eyes with tight sincerity. "Kess, we got hit hard yesterday. And I—

His eyes closed again, trying to keep himself together, but he looked at her in weakness, begging her for help. " _I need you_. I need your help to get through this."

Kess's brows knitted over her nose with amplified fear of the unknown. Nik's brows knitted over his nose with striking similarity to his sister. The only good part about this moment was that Nik seemed to be stronger and more alert to these happenings than he was yesterday.

Luke's eyes pleaded at Kess, and his eyes nearly welled up with new tears. "I need _you_ to be the Living Legend today."

Kess bit her lips shut and nodded, holding his hand briefly with a silent promise. She knew what was wrong now. She knew it in her soul. Someone had died, probably many, but at least one that was very close. And Luke knew who it was.

As the spire shot into the throat of the Senate chambers, Kess closed her eyes and forced her mind to meditate on the memory of Kayla's helpful strength during a battle years before. _Cry later._

Before the spire had even reached its peak, it was clear this was going to be a bureaucratic nightmare. A thousand passionate opinions stood from their stations to yell over muted mikes, waving fists and pressing palms together in pleas. The giant building felt like an echo chamber of the dark side. Kess used every Jedi trick in the book to find some thread of peace and help Nik to start unraveling this mess.

"Good morning. Thank you for coming. Um." Nik looked at his datapad for some ideas of wording it, but managed to put it in his own words anyway. "Please take your seats. I have you all muted and locked in your bays, but I intend everyone to get a chance to have the floor."

The room began to calm. Many took their seats, but hardly all.

"Meanwhile, I command all forces to maintain the cease fire so we can proceed with this discussion."

The Imperial High Command arrived at a mid-level to confiscate several Senate seats for their own use and stood ready to shout as soon as their mikes controls lifted.

When the room quieted sufficiently, Nik began a speech of his own drafting. "I am not a politician." He grinned, "And I think you all know that." He paused again, gathering his wits and glancing at the datapad again before facing them down. "I don't know how to fix this. . . All I know is that it has to be fixed. This war has _got_ to stop. And I think thirty years has proved that it won't stop by firepower.

"The Empire put me up here. The Alliance asked me to stay a little while longer. But all I'm going to do is find a way to get _out_ of the way . . . so that all of _you_ , who are already educated in legal debate and understand the nuances between system cultures, can organize a new provisional government.

Murmurs rolled through the crowd, but Nik only raised his voice to shout over it. "Through democracy, a new Senate is going to decide on what's going to happen next. So what we need first is someone who is trained in this kind of thing to manage that discussion. As Emperor, I hereby create the position of a Senate Chamberlain."

He looked at his list.

"The Chamberlain will remain neutral in all things, with no financial ties to any interest group or corporation, will hold no political office or royal status with any system in the Galaxy, will be permitted no vote on any issue on the floor. The Chamberlain's one and only job is to control the conversation in order to grant all sides an equal opportunity to speak. The Chamberlain's duty is to mediate towards mutually-beneficial solutions, to facilitate the voting process, and to manage the representatives of this _Senate_."

Nik put down the datapad and faced them down again. "I hereby call for nominees."

The audience launched to their feet, shouting, complaining, demanding he address the occupying forces of the Rebels, insisting the Alliance be allowed to boot the Empire entirely off the planet, pleading for resources to quell the fires, help the wounded, and halt the looting and riots outside. There were arguments how this would only create continuing chaos, that democracy was entirely too messy and untrustworthy to build a strong government. There were further arguments that this was a waste of time, for 'if you don't want the throne, just step down and give it to someone who does!'

But Nik shook his head at it all and looked over the console to figure out the controls. Kess stepped up beside him so they could figure out together how to open the text channel, allowing nominee names to come through from the seat stations, and then figured out how to display the whole thing back as a publically-published list.

There were dozens of names already. Politicians shouted at them through the air with worry about whose vote was legitimate and whose wasn't. The Alliance shouldn't have the right to vote. The Imperials shouldn't have the right to vote. Non-humans shouldn't have the right to vote. Occupied planets shouldn't have the right to vote. Space stations shouldn't have the right to vote. Corporations shouldn't have the right to vote. There were arguments about votes reflecting population count, arguments about votes reflecting the number of solar systems, arguments about organizations trying to vote twice, arguments about non-planet-based guilds having the right to vote, arguments about non-tax-payers voting, arguments about slave traders voting, arguments whether systems currently in civil war should be permitted one vote or two. . . .

Nik looked overwhelmed with all this while he was trying to sort it out on the console, so Kess stepped up to the mike with a patting palm. "Guys! Guys. Calm down. Right now, we're _just_ voting for a Chamberlain. The _Chamberlain_ will mediate for new rules of voting. And we have to do _that_ before we can even _get_ to the part of a provisional government."

As she said this, Kess noted Mon Mothma and team were out there as one of the few groups not standing or trying to interrupt all this. In the distance, Mon Mothma nodded that they were on the right track.

The room began to quiet and murmur, during which someone shouted audibly. "You _cannot_ call a vote until all systems are _represented_!"

That was another good point. Not everyone was here. Because the Empire _had_ no collection of representatives already. Those that filled this building today either came with the Alliance forces, were here as sycophants for the new Emperor's coronation, or just happened to be in town.

But that's where the Newnets came into play. With confidence that this was being fed live throughout the galaxy by now, Luke stepped up to the mike. "All system governments not already present are welcome to send communication of their nominees and votes for the position of Chamberlain." Then he added with warning, "But _I hope you're on your way_ because the new Chamberlain might not extend the same offer for the next decision all of you need to make."

It was already afternoon when the three of them enlisted the help of several droids (Artoo included) to join them on the spire and tally everyone present. Then they began to filter out the systems that tried to sneak in more than one representative. Then worked to include the communiqués of representatives rushing to the Capital to join all this.

And finally brought it to each other's attention as their own names popped up on the list of nominees.

With their heads together in silence, Luke considered at length how to handle this. Kess and Nik already knew what their answers would be, they just didn't know how to word it. The simpler the better. An explanation shouldn't be necessary.

Luke moved his mouth to the mike and said it succinctly. "I remove my name as nominee."

With that, Nik repeated the phrase into the mike, then stepped out of the way so Kess could say it too.

By the end of this first day, the only thing the new Senate agreed upon was to continue the madness tomorrow.

But the cease fire held. . . .


	42. LL5 41 A New Residence and an Old Debt

At the ending bell, Luke, Kess, and Nik exited the Chancellor's chambers by going through the coliseum lobby where dozens of politicians affronted them, still trying to argue, to complain, to debate, and to lick their boots. The three tried to be polite to insist a chance to visit the blasted bathroom.

"We'll continue tomorrow!" Was the repeated phrase until they managed to hole up in someone's quiet office for a drink of water and a fast bite of a cold muffin.

Ambassador Danje appeared from the crowd and ushered the rest of the politicians to go away. "It's been a rough couple of days," he told them all. "No more politics tonight."

Without waiting for the crowd to disperse, he stood in the doorway and spoke to the three Jedi as if he were issuing a command. "What do you need?"

Kess glanced over at Luke and Nik and saw the answers instantly. Luke needed to meditate. Nik needed a med droid. All three of them needed sleep. She pushed forward on her mode of Cry Later and asked Danje for a place to stay and a ride to it.

Danje made it happen.

Within a few hours, Danje flew them to a skyscraper of floor-wide, furnished apartments overlooking a grand commercial avenue. Their eyes could follow the strings of neon lights and glowing street lamps all the way back to the Senate Building on the horizon. It was a civilian place—not occupied by the Senators and Royalty— but by the political assistants and operatives who served them. Danje tried to rent them the highest floor available, but Luke declined in a murmur and asked instead for a floor closer to the street. The Jedi were not to hold any appearance of trying to be in charge.

The first month was covered by Danje himself in appreciation for the cease fire. He promised to approach each system of the Serra Arm for donations to cover another five months, granting the Jedi plenty of time to 'get this done' without having to 'couch-surf'. Finally, he ordered up a healthy hot supper and paid for that too so that the Jedi could take this chance to fully refresh before the continuing 'bullshit' tomorrow.

Artoo rolled over and helped himself to a wall-plug that was his own personalized lunch and shut himself down. Nik stepped into the service room and activated the in-house med droid. He began to unbutton his tunic as he thumbed up the room controls, raising the heat of the room to a temperature that a Tatooiner could stand, and closed the door to be alone.

As Danje made his motion to leave, Luke bowed with deep respect and noted the title specifically. "Thank you for all you've done, _Senator_."

With a smug little grin, Danje lifted his chin and nodded back. "You're absolutely welcome, Master Jedi."

Danje left.

Luke and Kess were alone for the first time in a week.

But they stood far apart in the sitting area and gazed over the beautiful suite with discomfort. Colors of sand decorated the carpet and walls. The furniture was a soft-brushed black. Highlights of deep purple colored the flowing curtains and soft table lamps. Through the beautiful archway on the north end among the small foyer and entrance housed the kitchen, office, service room, and other living necessities. The south end of the oval building had another archway opening to a back hall that led into four large bedrooms, lavatories, and storage closets. Between the two arches stretched east and west walls of windows around a great living room with a sitting area and a long dining table. The apartment had a med droid, house-keeping droid, and protocol droid all built in, comm station, public library access. . . . This place was perfect for political operatives that had zero time to do anything else but research and discuss.

But Kess eyed the room as if the place was a jail cell. The windows stood like shields to separate them from the noise and weather outside, but did nothing to protect them from the still-rippling dark side of the Force on Coruscant. She stood immobile between the lush black couches, rubbing her own arms and hugging herself. Kess realize she had not prepared herself to deal with this part about being a Jedi. "I've never felt so . . . homeless."

Luke glanced over to that, but he was too distracted to respond.

Kess saw Luke staring at the floor, equally unable to move. He had been stumbling along a ragged edge since he came back from Vanech last night. She already guessed that it hadn't gone well, but Luke was far more affected than such a failure would warrant.

She did what he asked; she served as his tether, she stood as his strength. And she was glad to do it, proud to be able to serve that role for him. She hadn't asked for details so that she _could_ serve that role for him. But now the day was over. The cease fire was holding. Kess finally opened her mind to sense his anguish, to see Luke's soul bruised beyond recognition. And she realized it fully that he knew something she didn't.

"Are you going to talk to me?"

Luke forced himself to lift his face and say it, but his voice cracked. "Han's dead."

She blurted with tears. She covered her mouth with both palms and walked into his chest, and Luke wrapped his arms around her instantly. He let his facade of strength finally fall away and cried against her hair while her own strength shattered in grief.

After a minute of wailing, she looked up and asked about Leia, about the baby, and Luke assured both were okay.

"You should go to her," Kess told him like he was crazy for being here at all. She now realized she hadn't seen Leia anywhere during the madness today. And now she knew why.

Luke shook his head. He was calm, but tears streamed down his face. "I saw her last night. When she found out, I could— She's the only one I can sense." He complained, raising his face. "Everyone on this planet is throbbing; I can't make out anyone beyond the reach of my own hand."

"Luke, go to Leia and meditate with her."

He argued it off. "She's still in shock. I made her check into obstetrics. She is hard-pressed to focus on the next steps of this. Chewie's with her. . . ."

But there was more. She could see it in his face. "What else?"

Luke swallowed hard, then forced himself to eye her with the deepest sympathy. "A TIE fighter tried to kamikaze into Rogue Group's hangar bay . . . and Wedge tried to stop it by flying in its way."

She covered her face with her hand and peaked at him through her fingers. _No. Please say no._

"I don't know," he whispered the hard truth. "Kess, _I don't know!_ "

She hid against his chest again.

One arm wrapped around her back. The other hand held her head in his neck. He whispered into her temple. "We'll find out when the list comes out. Just like everybody else. . . . But it doesn't matter who is on it. Kess, we have to make this _worth it_."

Kess was already in agreement, but Luke seemed to need to say this aloud. He pulled her face up to meet his eyes. "We have to do this for everyone on that list. For everyone on the list from the Battle of the Line. And the Battle of Endor. And the Battle of Yavin. . . . For everyone that was on the Death Star. Everyone who died in the Clone Wars. Every Jedi killed by my father . . . _All_ of them. On _both_ sides."

He'd been thinking about this all day. He'd been brewing on this news since last night and it was now hardening into a dark resolve as if to protect himself from wanting revenge. She reached up and touched his face, and he let himself be calmed by it, to be strengthened by it.

Luke's eyes looked at nothing in the air. "We have a job to do. We need to keep our heads. We need to be ready to handle days and _weeks_ of political frustration to make sure this cease fire holds." He was still ordering all this as much to himself as he was to her. "We're going to need to take turns being strong. Like you did for me today. It'll be tempting for one of us to take that throne just to make it all _stop_."

"Shh." Now she took his face in her palms and whispered. "You need to meditate."

He nodded, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his whisper was a plea. "I need _sleep_."

Feeling the intensity of his weakness right now, Kess nodded. She couldn't calculate how many hours they'd been awake since the morning of battle formations 'yesterday'. Much less all the lack of sleep they'd suffered for days prior just to get them to this point. Last night's attempt at rest wasn't nearly enough compared to all they'd just been through. And yet the worst was yet to come.

Kess knew it. Somehow, she already knew it. When The List came out, there would be a whole lot more tears.

They didn't bother with showers this time. They just undressed to almost nothing. They disappeared into the first bedroom they found and climbed into the bed together.

Kess helped Luke meditate until he fell asleep, but she couldn't. Eventually, she stood at the window of this foreign bedroom, wearing only his dirty shirt as a nightgown, staring at the infinite lights and restless city, and fidgeted with her grandmother's wedding locket at her neck. There would be more to mourn, but right now, she refused to worry who it would be. Tonight, she focused her memories on Han Solo.

She remembered his playful threat about the circuitry bay having a camera. She remembered his sweat and focus as they fixed the Falcon's FGG. She remembered how he covered her head when blaster fire rained on them in that plaza.

 _I owe you a beer_ , Han had said to her with a smile.

Kess smiled through her tear-stained face out the window and thought, _And I owe you a lot more than that._


	43. LL5 42 Shattered like Black Glass

The next morning, Nik stepped into the bedroom and nudged their shoulders to wake up. He'd already called up breakfast and java from the restaurant downstairs. He pointed out that this place had a real water shower and admitted it took him some time to figure out how to operate the thing. At first, he tried to break up the dark silence with bits of humor, but he seemed to know this part of the process was more difficult for them than it was for him. Nik's nightmare was ending, but theirs was just beginning, and it would continue until the final body count tallied.

Luke was rested but stoic, calm but serious. Kess had been crying all night. She managed some sleep, but tossed and turned about as badly as Luke had in the scant hours the night before.

Before they were all fully ready, Danje arrived with an offer of a ride back to the Senate and announced it would be in their own craft. He had convinced another secret system ally (Bakura) to donate a six-person speeder to the Jedi Order so they had transportation while at their Coruscant residence. During the short ride over, they thanked him again, but Luke warned not to help too much else it would look like they were currying favor. Danje agreed and handed over the speeder codes before climbing out to report to his Senate seat.

Politicians and lobbyists had already spied them and were rushing across the plaza. Luke reached out fast and closed the door Danje had left open, enclosing the three of them in privacy for a minute longer. For a moment, all three of them enjoyed a moment of relative silence, but all three of them stiffened up to focus and get to work.

"Okay." Luke said, "Plan of attack."

Kess and Nik listened like soldiers awaiting orders.

"Nik, everyone is assuming you're a Jedi already—

"I called Gina last night," Nik reported, looking entirely displeased with this particular topic.

Luke's mouth paused open, but he shook his head and didn't ask. "We'll talk about it later. I'm not making any assumptions. All I'm asking is that you not distract anyone else by correcting theirs."

Nik nodded and gazed at the crowds begging for attention outside the speeder window.

"We need to stay on point. Like we did yesterday. There are a lot of passionate opinions out there about what we should do first, and most of them are legitimate concerns. A thousand things need to happen right away. But we can't afford to get distracted by them before we have a Chamberlain."

Nik pointed out. "This would go a lot faster if we can get _them_ to stop being distracted too."

"The squeaky wheel gets the oil," Kess said discouraged. "And it doesn't shut up while it's waiting for its turn, _but_ — Her eyes stared at the air for the beat of a new idea. "Maybe if we land it one wheel at a time."

Both Luke and Nik eyed her, entirely clueless of her reference.

She lifted her face. "We can use the droids in there, right?"

"Droids yes, but we need stay away from any of the sentient assistants."

"So let's assign one of the protocol droids to go around to each Senate seat and gather the issues they want the _Chamberlain_ to address. They're yelling at us to handle it all, but if they're visited by an invitation to put their issues on a list to be addressed later, it might not only calm them enough to find some patience, it could also strengthen the Chamberlain's political power before he or she is even in office."

Luke nodded. "That's a good idea."

Nik asked, "How long do you think this Chamberlain vote will take?"

"A couple of days at least," Luke admitted. "There were already dozens of nominees when we left last night. And we have to give each one of them a chance to present their arguments before we call the vote."

Nik noted, "I'd hate to think medical and security services out there are at a standstill waiting for leadership."

"We have to keep faith that most people serve their respective careers with a sense of duty instead of just blindly following orders. Kess, arrange that droid you talked about. I'll see what I can do about getting the Red Guard to resume its role of keeping Senators from shooting at each other. Nik, talk as little as possible and look mean."

"Why can't I talk?"

"Because everything you say can be twisted into a proclamation and lead to a result that you didn't intend. And you're right; you're not a politician. No offense."

Nik's brows shrugged.

Luke focused. "So. We are the neutral parties whose _only_ charge is to facilitate a fair vote for Chamberlain. As soon as the Chamberlain is voted in, Nik, you will resign your position as Emperor."

Nik's eyes shifted back over at him.

Luke's brows knitted. "Or will you?"

" _Oh_ yeah." Nik nodded hard and deep, noting it hard, almost to the point of comedy. "I don't want this shit."

"Good," Luke managed a smile at the man's response, but his smile faded with a moment of focused meditation, and he grabbed the door handle. "Ready?"

Brother and sister nodded, and the three of them punctured the crowds with hard intent.

They swore not to get distracted, but already someone in the lobby shouted out a valid point: the roles of Chamberlain should not be decided solely by an Emperor who already admitted he wasn't a politician and wasn't educated in methods of governing. Once alone in the Chancellor's chambers, the Jedi agreed they should not admit where the idea came from, but the only way to counter the point was to let the Senate speak their ideas. To keep it from becoming a new layer of red tape, they agreed not to make this part have to come to a vote too. Instead, they would just listen for good ideas and take a mental temperature of the audience response if the idea should be included.

This in itself was going to cost them an entire day, but the three agreed it was a necessary enough step and suitable distraction. It would allow the still-raging battle passion to scream itself hoarse before the real matter was put to the floor. And it would buy time for other crucial representatives to arrive from other parts of the galaxy.

The list of nominees had changed drastically over the course of the night. Naturally, many names were added, but many were removed as coalitions began to gather amongst this fledgling government. Nik rang the opening bell and announced this plan with a single statement. "On this day, I invite input to further define the role of Chamberlain. You each get two minutes." He motioned for them to 'turn on their lights,' and green lights lit up like Christmas all over the chamber.

Nik quickly learned the timer and mike-mute controls on the console. He didn't formally 'recognize' anybody. When one was finished, the auto-timer clicked off, and Nik wordlessly stepped up to flip two switches, un-muting the next mike and start the timer all over again. He tried to choose randomly which would get to speak next, but ended up showing preference to those who were sitting quietly and listening politely. This preference was soon discovered and affected the positive result that more representatives began to sit down and shut up until it was their turn to speak.

Amidst this morning discussion, when Nik clearly had gotten the hang of this part, Luke stepped away to address the Security Headquarters of the Red Guard, but he was met with distrust and got nowhere with that crew. Once Luke returned to the spire to stand guard, Kess went down to the coliseum lobby away and had to use the Force to determine friend from foe before choosing from whom she would borrow the protocol droid. Explaining her idea in public meant she was overheard by several others in the vicinity, and two other system reps stepped forth to offer their protocol droids to canvas the chambers as well. Even using droids, this step was untrustworthy, because it meant each droid-owning system could erase issues they didn't like and silence other ideas from the get-go. Kess had to remind herself that an all-inclusive list of concerns was not the mission. The mission was only to let the various system senators feel the honor of an invitation and confidence that they would be heard.

Late morning, Leia appeared in the Senate seat beside Mon Mothma, giving Luke and Kess significant pause to try and see from this distance if she was okay. She wore blood and black Senatorial robes now, and her demeanor was that of _don't mess with me today, for I mean business._

Quickly, Luke suggested they break for a midday meal, at which he disappeared in the halls to seek out his sister. Kess let him go on the understanding that the two needed a moment alone, noting that she had her own people to try to contact.

Kess cornered herself in a pocket of the Chancellor's under offices and tried to remember every number she ever knew.

No one answered, but Kess expected that because most of her friends were probably still topside on capital ships. Her commlink signal wouldn't reach that far. She managed to get a hold of a data admin she knew only by acquaintance, and thought of her because she'd seen a glimpse of the woman as part of Mon Mothma's planet-side entourage. Questah seemed always present and ready to help wherever needed, so Kess asked if she could borrow her as a backchannel. Questah was glad to share what little news she knew so far.

Yana was wounded — shot in the shoulder by blaster fire when the political crew first landed yesterday. They had been trying to rush to the Senate in time to be present for the Emperor's cease fire and got caught in the street before their guarding troops could stop the onslaught from Imperial ground forces. Last Questah saw, Yana was unconscious, but word had it she going to be okay. She didn't know to which hospital Yana was taken and promised to comm back if she learned anything new. Kess thanked the new friend profusely and got back to work.

Luke returned late from lunch and stole a moment in a corner of the office before they stabbed themselves back up into the Senate chamber. Nik was back in his right mind, for now he stood tall and erect with the practiced strength of facing down a drunk and angry father. He further developed the habit of interrupting a speaker's allotted minute by simply flipping the mute switch if they drifted off topic from the Chamberlain's role.

The rest of the day concluded with the same in fighting as the day began, but the politicians began to calm down, one-by-one, as they each were permitted to shout out their two-credits of opinion.

Before the ending bell, and per the suggestion of Luke, Nik announced the plan for tomorrow. Each nominee would get the floor for a five-minute proposal and make their case for the role of Chamberlain.

And the cease fire held. . . .

* * *

That night, Threepio arrived at their new apartment door almost as soon as they'd entered it themselves. This time Kess _did_ give 'Goldenrod' a big hug. Artoo greeted him with happiness and relief, even Luke smiled a little, but Threepio had come to bring them sad news.

Threepio admitted it wasn't complete, but he had brought them the first draft of The List.

Kess froze on her feet with the card in her hand, staring at it, afraid to see the information inside. Luke stepped up and whispered to dismiss the droid, "Thank you, Threepio." He nudged her by the hand to step over to one of the couches with him, plucking up a reader along the way. In complete understanding, Nik moved to the other end of the great room to sit down at the dining table with a stiff drink and remained silent.

Luke and Kess sat side-by-side on the black couch. They closed their eyes for a moment before turning on the datareader. His left hand wrapped tightly into her right, weaving their fingers, knotting themselves together to face this.

The names were out of any discernible order. There were no ranks. No groups. No assignments. No systems. No ages. No explanations. Nothing. Just names. Accompanied only by an indicator if the person was Killed or Wounded. This was probably just the list of Alliance personnel, but they didn't know that for certain. It probably included a few civilian politicians, but they wouldn't know which were which. Only the first draft, this was probably just the half of it, but they had no way of knowing how many more there would be.

They read it in silence. Eyes paused on every name, not just to recollect the name, but to try to remember the face, to remember the last time they _saw_ that face, to remember the last thing each person had said to them, to remember the last thing _they_ said to each person, to wonder how they died, and to grow angrier at each additional life lost.

It didn't take long to see names that made them pause even longer. Names that seemed to bold themselves in the text, announcing the loss as if the datacard was shouting the name at them. As though her heart hadn't entirely believed it before, seeing Han Solo's name in there made Kess burst into crazier tears. Yet she forced herself to sniff and squint through the blur in her eyes so she could keep reading.

But the reading didn't get any easier. Luke too collapsed in a heavy sigh a couple of times. Kess didn't need to look over at him to know tears were dribbling down his face too. There were too many names they'd both knew, for so long. Too many names they'd spoken aloud so many times. Names that seemed to echo in the Force with the last of that laughter. Names that pierced new black holes in their hearts. Names beyond names beyond names. Kess could barely see through her tears by the time they reached the bottom of it, at which she crumbled into a blithering pile of terrible heartache. Luke tossed the list away and wrapped his arms around her to cry into her ear. Their hearts shattered across the floor like black glass.

Eventually, silently, Nik stepped over and picked the datareader off the carpet, watching the couple wrapped around each other in excruciating sorrow. Nik didn't expect to recognize any of the names, but he decided that detail didn't matter. Whether he was the primary mission or not, these people had given their lives to save him from this nightmare, to save everyone from the _continuing_ nightmare of this war. He sat down at the empty dining table, refilled his tumbler with two more inches of liquor, and made himself pause to absorb every last name on The List.


	44. LL5 43 The List

**KIA Caroline Previdi**

 **KIA Phyllis Schneck**

 **KIA Carlist Rieekan**

 **WIA Makai Hall**

 **WIA Lisa Kreutz**

 **KIA Kelly Fleming**

 **KIA Corey DePooter**

 **KIA Bailey Nicole Holt**

 **KIA Dr. John R. Locke**

 **KIA Neal Boyd, IV**

 **KIA Joseph Johnson Jr**

 **KIA Eugene Segro**

 **KIA Thurlene Stillday**

 **WIA Jim Pierce**

 **KIA Joseph Monti**

 **WIA Chad Johansen**

 **KIA Marian Stoltzfus Fisher**

 **WIA Esther King**

 **KIA Mick Seidrik**

 **KIA G. V. Loganathan**

 **WIA Troy Lee McFadyen**

 **KIA Matthew Gwaltney**

 **KIA Partahi Lumbantoruan**

 **KIA Juan Ortiz**

 **KIA Michael Pohle Jr.**

 **KIA Nicole White**

 **WIA Sergio Miranda**

 **KIA Ryanne Mace**

 **KIA Ryan Henderson**

 **KIA Gopi K. Podila**

 **WIA Brian Mulder**

 **WIA Chance Jackson**

 **KIA Demetrius Hewlin**

 **KIA Tshering Rinzing Bhutia**

 **KIA Lydia Sim**

 **WIA Grace Kirika**

 **KIA Kristopher Smith**

 **KIA Tyrone Lawson**

 **KIA Claire Davis**

 **KIA Kristofer Hunter**

 **KIA Ron Lane**

 **KIA Treven Taylor Anspach**

 **KIA Lucas Eibel**

 **KIA Cameron Smith**

 **KIA Jeremiah E. Burke**

 **KIA Barbara Ann Glisan**

 **KIA Michelle Iris McFadyen**

 **WIA Jessie Allen Sanders**

 **KIA Francisco Fernandez**

 **WIA John Phommathep Jr**

 **KIA Scott Beigel**

 **KIA Jaime Guttenberg**

 **KIA Gina Montalto**

 **KIA Helena Ramsay**

 **KIA Peter Wang**

 **KIA Charlotte Bacon**

 **KIA Madeleine Hsu**

 **KIA Ana Márquez-Greene**

 **KIA Jack Pinto**

 **KIA Stev Shorkey**

 **KIA Benjamin Wheeler**

 **KIA Joanne Percy**

 **KIA John Roll**

 **KIA Kyle Velasquez**

 **KIA Isaiah Shoels**

 **WIA Nicole Nowlen**

 **WIA Austin Eubanks**

 **WIA Kimberly Marchese**

 **KIA Thomas Blackwell**

 **KIA Cheryl McGaffic**

 **KIA James Richardson**

 **KIA Alicia White**

 **KIA Gary Seale**

 **WIA Alexander Rueda**

 **WIA Mary Snedeker**

 **KIA Petra of Flan**

 **KIA Harel Woody**

 **KIA Benjamin Pennington**

 **WIA Rosanna King**

 **KIA Jamie Bishop**

 **KIA Brian Bluhm**

 **KIA Caitlin Hammaren**

 **KIA Emily Hilscher**

 **KIA Minal Panchal**

 **KIA Julia Pryde**

 **KIA Leslie Sherman**

 **KIA David Kachadourian**

 **KIA Catalina Garcia**

 **KIA Steven Kazmierczak**

 **WIA Martrevis Norman**

 **KIA Todd Brown**

 **WIA Joseph G. Leahy**

 **KIA Jose Daniel Cisneros**

 **WIA Catilyn Abercrombie**

 **WIA Nick Walczak**

 **KIA Sonam Chodon**

 **WIA Ahmad Javid Sayeed**

 **KIA Taylor Cornett**

 **KIA Christopher Zawahri**

 **WIA Debra Lynn Fine**

 **KIA Andrew Boldt**

 **WIA Sarah Williams**

 **KIA Zoë Galasso**

 **WIA Nate Hatch**

 **KIA Lucero Alcaraz**

 **KIA Jason Dale Johnson**

 **KIA Colin Brough**

 **KIA Cooper Caffrey**

 **KIA William S. Klug**

 **KIA Jonathan Martinez**

 **KIA Joseph Edward McHugh III**

 **WIA James Woods Sr**

 **WIA Nikos Phommathep**

 **KIA Casey Jordan Marquez**

 **KIA Janeera Nickol Gonzalez**

 **KIA Ashley Hasti**

 **WIA Nicholas Piring**

 **KIA Lawrence Levine**

 **KIA Christopher Starks**

 **KIA Gia Soriano**

 **KIA Paul Lee**

 **KIA Margarita Gomez**

 **KIA Gil Collar**

 **WIA Jake Phommathep**

 **KIA Jan Dodonna**

 **KIA Doris Chibuko**

 **WIA Nate Mueller**

 **KIA Vicki Kaspar**

 **KIA Adriel D. Johnson**

 **KIA Amanda Collette**

 **KIA Ryan McDonald**

 **KIA Julianna Gehant**

 **KIA Karsheika Graves**

 **KIA Darnell Rodgers**

 **KIA Reema Samaha**

 **KIA Daniel O'Neil**

 **KIA Matthew La Porte**

 **KIA Austin Cloyd**

 **KIA Crix Madine**

 **KIA Kevin Granata**

 **WIA Barbie Fisher**

 **KIA Anna Mae Stoltzfus**

 **KIA Emily Keyes**

 **KIA Linda Lambesis**

 **KIA Ken Bruce**

 **KIA Chanelle Rosebear**

 **KIA Michelle Sigana**

 **KIA Joyce Gregory**

 **KIA Robin Rogers**

 **KIA Randy Gordon**

 **KIA Dedrick Owens**

 **KIA Daniel Mauser**

 **WIA Mark Kintgen**

 **KIA Cassie Bernall**

 **WIA Patrick Ireland**

 **KIA Dorwan Stoddard**

 **KIA Christina-Taylor Green**

 **KIA Noah Pozner**

 **KIA James Mattioli**

 **KIA Dylan Hockley**

 **KIA Daniel Barden**

 **WIA Gial Ackbar**

 **KIA Anne Marie Murphy**

 **KIA Carmen Schentrup**

 **KIA Cara Loughran**

 **KIA Martin Duque**

 **KIA Alyssa Alhadeff**

 **KIA Luke Hoyer**

 **KIA Meadow Pollack**

 **KIA Nancy Lanza**

 **KIA Mary Sherlach**

 **KIA Josephine Gay**

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 **KIA Grace McDonnell**

 **KIA Jessica Rekos**

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 **WIA Evan Todd**

 **KIA Kacey Ruegsegger**

 **WIA Valeen Schnurr**

 **KIA John Tomlin**

 **WIA Yana Dietrich**

 **KIA Preston Ryan Cope**

 **KIA Bryan Zuckor**

 **KIA Angela Dales**

 **KIA Caveman Williams**

 **KIA Aaron Rollins**

 **KIA Neva Wynkoop-Rogers**

 **KIA Dewayne Lewis**

 **KIA Mary Shanks**

 **KIA John Klang**

 **KIA Mary Liz Miller**

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 **KIA Liviu Librescu**

 **KIA Ryan Clark**

 **KIA Jeremy Herbstritt**

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 **KIA Waleed Shaalan**

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 **KIA Larry King**

 **KIA Gayle Dubowski**

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 **KIA Trevor Varinecz**

 **WIA Stephanie Monticciolo**

 **WIA Curtis Case**

 **KIA Russell King, Jr**

 **KIA Dale Regan**

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 **KIA Han Solo**

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 **KIA James D. Holloway**

 **KIA Barry Grunow**

 **WIA Jennifer Doyle**

 **WIA William Pennington**

 **WIA Iran Brown**

 **KIA Seth Bartell**

 **KIA Naomi Rose Ebersol**

 **KIA Jocelyne Couture-Nowak**

 **KIA Lauren McCain**

 **KIA Taneshia Butler**

 **KIA Chavares Block**

 **KIA Tremaine De Ante' Paul**

 **WIA Dawinder Kaur**

 **KIA Michael Landsberry**

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 **WIA Kyle Zientek**

 **WIA Francisco Gudino Cardenas**

 **WIA Tiffany Nai Phommathep**

 **KIA Danny Lee Elliott**

 **KIA Jacob Hall**

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 **WIA Joy Rickers**

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 **KIA Judith Seymour**

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 **KIA Logan Pennington**

 **KIA Lena Zook Miller**

 **WIA Rachel Ann Stoltzfus**

 **KIA Samnang Kok**

 **KIA Ross Alameddine**

 **KIA Emerald Ashten**

 **KIA Daniel Perez Cueva**

 **KIA Rachael Hill**

 **KIA Jarrett Lane**

 **KIA Michael Peek**

 **KIA Maxine Turner**

 **KIA Mary Karen Read**

 **KIA Erin Peterson**

 **WIA Kenzie McKeon**

 **KIA Christopher Penley**

 **KIA Lando Calrissian**

 **KIA Chase Lussier**

 **KIA Barbara Monroe**

 **KIA Anthony Sutin**

 **WIA Jeanna Park**

 **KIA Lauren Townsend**

 **KIA Matthew Kechter**

 **KIA Steven Curnow**

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 **KIA Allison Wyatt**

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 **KIA Jesse Lewis**

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 **KIA Olivia Engel**

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 **KIA Aaron Feis**

 **KIA Nicholas Dworet**

 **KIA Chris Hixon**

 **KIA Rachel D'Avino**

 **KIA Daniel Parmenter**

 **KIA Omero Mendez**

 **WIA Justin Cosby**

 **KIA Maria Ragland Davis**

 **WIA Reagan Webber**

 **KIA Kayla Korbosi**

 **WIA Matt Thieu**

 **WIA Luis Rogelio Cruz-Vera**


	45. LL5 44 Half of the Family

Today's Senate audience was significantly more orderly than the day before. Today, the Imperials seemed ready to take back their power with this ludicrous vote. Today, Leia pulsated with resolve not to let that happen. Luke and Kess struggled to maintain neutrality inside themselves because, today, both of them had swollen eyes from crying most of the night. Out of reach of each other, they sat behind the command console and just let Nik handle it.

Nik managed the day in almost complete silence. He used a protocol droid to randomize and announce the names. He timed the mike-mute controls for exactly five minutes speeches, no matter who was doing the talking or where their diatribe ended up. He learned to ignore random shouts trying to order him to do anything else.

No less than 61 nominees finalized the list of people vying for the position of Chamberlain. The speeches took two days.

On the first day, Nominee Grand Moff Jakobi took the floor.

Jakobi presented a historical summary that this whole war started with the corruption of the Senate, that the Jedi already tried to overthrow the Republic, and this new Jedi atop the Chancellor's spire today were trying to do the same thing now. He insisted the rebellion was borne by a civil war _they themselves_ had started. The Empire rose up and gathered an army only to stop the cessation of the violent Separatists. Jakobi reminded them that the Empire had been _invaded_. Coruscant was currently under enemy occupation. And he insisted that the only solution to this madness was to vote him into power so they could quash this disorderly circus and kill all the remaining Jedi to prevent the whole thing from happening again. Peace could only be assured through the purity of the Palpatine Empire.

Many were swayed by Jakobi's passionate speech.

But the cease fire held. . . .

* * *

As they exited the Chancellor's chambers and prepared to run the evening gauntlet to the speeder, Kess couldn't wait to get back to the apartment and hide in a closet. Luke and Nik were equally focused to push through the crowd, eyes down, mouths shut, and ignore anything anyone said to them. As usual, people shouted their names in the demand for attention, but Luke and Kess were so numb they even ignored vaguely familiar faces and friendly calls.

That Geoffrik was wearing his uniform didn't seem to grab their attention either. Shouting their names only got lost in the rest of the noise. The Gold Group deck grunt looked around and thought quickly, and before the entourage walked too far away, he motioned over a stranger and shoved him down onto one knee just so he could stand on the other knee and lift himself in the air.

For the brief moment he was aloft, Geoffrik cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted in his loudest voice. _"ROGUE GROUP IS LANDING!"_

Whiplash.

Luke and Kess turned instantly to the source of this news and recognized the shipmate beyond the crowd. Many others shut up to seek clues on how this guy managed to get the Jedi to stop and listen.

Geoffrik cupped his mouth again. "Destiny Airport! Flight Wesk432!"

Luke shouted over the crowd. "When?"

Geoffrik poked a finger down at his feet and spoke in a regular voice. "Now."

Luke, Kess, and Nik quickly eyed each other with a new plan. Kess paused only enough to look Geoffrik in the eyes and press her fist to her heart with the deepest of thanks. Geoffrik nodded back as she turned and joined the others in a full run.

Nik insisted he would do the flying so he could dump them at the entrance, park, and catch up later. But as they moved through the traffic to get there, he questioned this meet-up. "Isn't this going to hurt our precious appearance of neutrality?"

Luke answered before Kess had the chance. "I don't give a damn."

They opened their doors before Nik fully landed at the front entrance and jumped out like they were racing into battle. Luke and Kess ran together, side by side, dodging masses of travelers. They paused on skipping feet only to seek out the flight number and gate on the display screens, and dove into a hard run toward that wing of the terminal. Their eyes searched for familiar faces in the crowd but saw no one. By the time they got to the gate archway, the transport had already landed, but the gangway hadn't yet lowered.

Kess grabbed Luke's hand with silent intensity as the ship to opened up and let out its hundreds of passengers. At first, both waited obediently behind the yellow safety line until they began to see the dejected faces of their pilots.

Rogan. . . . Janson. . . .

Their minds automatically began taking muster roll.

Ommis. . . . Jewie. . . . Josey. . . .

As the pilots began to find them standing there, faces lifted and sad eyes smiled to see them.

Seth. . . . Klivian. . . . Exati. . . .

Their boots inched forward onto the tarmac, searching for _the rest_ of their friends.

Tarrin. . . . Endomar.

Kess and Luke ignored the auto-warnings shouting at them to back up.

 _Where's the rest?_

They stepped out to cross the tarmac, but there were no more familiar faces coming out of the transport.

 _Where's the rest!?_

The gang stepped to Luke and Kess like the two were the only good thing to come out of all this. Kess's feet began to walk faster and close the distance, indecisive of which one she wanted to hug first, until the last pilot stepped down from the transport behind them all—

He had a cast on his right arm and a bandage on his forehead, but Wedge wore an expression as if he had been shot in the chest.

Kess ran hard and _landed_ against Wedge's body.

The pilot closed his eyes and held her head with his one good arm. Luke watched it for a beat before he stepped over and hugged Wedge too, holding the other man's forehead to his own with the woman practically smashed between them. Rogan turned around and hugged Kess from behind. Then Seth came over and hugged them both. Klivian stepped up and hugged Wedge's back. The remaining pilots closed in until they were all embracing each other in one, big, woeful, knot.

Kess struggled, but forced herself to do it, even though she already knew the answer. She lifted her face to Wedge, but then couldn't bring herself to ask the question.

Choking, Wedge shook his head and tears welled up in his eyes.

" _All_ of them?" She squeaked.

Wedge closed his eyes. "I tried, Kess. I tried. . . . I tried. I tried. I tried. . . ."

"I know. I know. I heard." She consoled him with a new hug.

They stood on that tarmac longer than they were supposed to and airport security came up too soon to usher them all away to the busy mess in the terminal. The others spoke of finding a pub in which they could all hide for a while before reporting to their new barracks, so the gang of them invaded a little restaurant inside the terminal and filled up three tall-tables in the corner.

A lot of the pilots took a moment to hug Kess specifically, for she was the last of the repair side of their family. And Wedge took more than one opportunity to hug her again. He held her like a superbly relieved big brother to have the proof that she was alive too. In truth, he was hugging Kess because he couldn't hug Kayla . . . or Ashten . . . or Seidrik . . . or. . . .

After filling the silence with numb conversation until each had drinks to sip and food to nibble, Wedge finally brought himself to tell them all what happened.

He saw the TIE fighter aim for the hangar, pound its thrusters, and the pilot eject. He fired at it, but his shots hardly slowed the 'meteor' plowing for the hangar deck. Wedge saw only a glimpse of the repair crew running for cover. He slammed on his dampers to slow himself in front of it, but the move was too clumsy, and the TIE was moving too fast, and the carrier's shields were already in trouble. The only reason Wedge survived was because he was double-safe in his enviro-suit _and_ the cockpit, but the last thing he remembered was the explosion rolling over the entire deck _and_ his canopy when Rogue Three crashed into the hangar too.

At the end of his explanation, no one pressed him for more detail.

All twelve Rogue Group pilots raised their glasses to their fallen repair crew and held the drinks aloft for a long minute of silence.

Condolences and forgiveness showered Wedge for his attempt to save them. Voices tried to turn to better news of those friends in Green Group and Blue Group who had survived this disaster. Someone also noted that Yana Deitrich —Wedge's 'secret' crush that everyone seemed to know about— was still WIA somewhere, and Kess promised her next off-Senate project was to find her old roommate.

Toward the end of the evening, when the subdued laughter of old tales began to roam through the conversation, Kess excused herself to the lavatory.

In her absence, Luke wrapped an arm around Wedge's shoulder and rested the sides of their heads together. He enjoyed every splinter of relief to know that at least _this_ friend had lived.

"So. Skywalker?" Janson peeped up in code in case the other Jedi could listen in even from the bathroom. "You still working with that chinkle tool set?"

All eleven of them knew instantly what the real question was. And all eleven of them raised their faces for an answer. This was the one piece of good news Rogue Group could grasp onto; the one piece of news that could ease some of the pain of their terrific loss.

Luke grinned through this somberness to report. "The project continues, but it's going to be a while before that mission can launch."

They all understood what he meant and asked no more questions. Kess returned and was too upset to notice anyone who tried not to grin at her about it. When the gang dispersed for the night, Wedge paused to ask Kess before he left too. "When you find her, ask her if it would be okay for me to come see her too."

"I don't have to ask her that." Kess felt she already knew Yana's answer.

"Ask her anyway," he whispered.

Kess nodded obedience, kissed him on the cheek, and got out of the way so Luke could give the man another powerful hug before they went home.

Nik had hovered in the background for the entire event. By the time he caught up with them at the airport gate, a dozen men and women crowded his sister like she was some kind of queen bee. His big brother instinct was to rip them off of her so he could console his sister himself. This was _his_ job. But he saw how she was hanging on all of them as much as they seemed to need to hang onto her. He saw how she held Luke's hand under the table at the same time she rested her head on the shoulder of the other pilot, and none of the crew blinked at either display of affection.

This was a tight gang, Nik noted. Incredibly strong people. But today they were suffering abject defeat. It wasn't until that other pilot told the story that Nik understood the details and immensity of that grief. Their _entire_ repair crew was gone. The cease fire was holding; this was supposed to feel like a victory. Now Nik understood why it didn't. He watched how the gang interacted in that airport bar. He watched they supported each other, how they loved each other. Kess had found herself the kind of family that their own family struggled to be. Nik felt a little twinge of jealousy that he wasn't a part of it, and then realized the wry humor of that irony.

In all the years since she left for the military, Nik had worried about her. Worried about her being alone, facing the big galaxy all by herself, with no one to lean on when times got tough, no one to muscle away the men who didn't take 'no' for an answer. But now he saw the truth. Kess didn't adopt a new 'big brother' to fill his roll while they were separated; she adopted _twelve_ of them.

Well, eleven of them, plus one that wasn't getting a 'no' for an answer. When Jedi Master and Apprentice visited Tatooine a few months ago, Kess had claimed nothing was going on between them, and Nik believed it. He even defended her in bars when strangers made loud comments at the gossip on the vid. Was he wrong to do that? Was she lying all along?

Did it matter?

It had given him quite a pause to find them wrapped hard around each other in sleep the other day, if not completely naked, they were close enough. At the time, his brain was still too intoxicated to trust his own response to that, not to mention the bigger sand drifts in need of shoveling that day.

But watching them in that bar, surrounded by friends in sorrow, and seeing how the two supported each other under the incredible stress and pressure of these last two days, how they always seemed to be on the same page about everything, from deciding dinner to tender galactic politics, Nik saw the deeper truth.

Little Kay Kay and _The_ Luke Skywalker were already married. They just didn't know it yet.

Nik was glad to fly them home so the two could cuddle in the backseat. He ordered up an easy dinner so they didn't have to worry about the task of it. He ordered the droids to shut down so the couple could have some peace and silence in the apartment, and he was ready to grab a serving and disappear into the office so they could have the whole place to themselves.

But Kess ate only a few bites and murmured on her way back to their bedroom, and Luke stood at the window, staring as if in numbness as she did.

Nik paused. Kess was hiding to cry. If Luke wasn't going to console her, perhaps big brother should step in.

"Let her be," Luke whispered, before Nik had the chance to move. The Jedi hadn't even glanced his way.

Nik considered, but he capitulated. He realized again how well Luke knew her. He _knew_ her. And he knew her because he loved her. The man stood at the window as if staring out, but now his eyes were closed. As if it was killing him not to go back and console her too.

Nik acknowledge that little Kay Kay was in good hands, and he disappeared into the office to get out of the way.

Luke listened to the other man leave the room, regretting that he couldn't get to know Nik under better circumstances. Luke felt this was the time they should be trying to become the kind of friends that were on the road to being family. He should be reaching out to start Nik's training. He should be asking for Nik's approval of the locket currently hiding next to his ankle. But there was too much happening. Too many emotions weighing him down.

Luke felt a little ashamed of this weakness; that these pressures and losses disabled him so badly that he didn't have enough strength left to extend the hope of brotherhood. He had long envisioned that Nik would become like a brother to him, not only as his next apprentice, soon also as a marital connection. But right now, the whole idea surrounding that word cut Luke to the core.

Brother.

 _"I don't know, you think a Princess and a guy like me. . . .?"_

Luke opened his eyes again, but the neon lights out there blurred in his teary vision.

 _"Maybe we should wait this out back at the strip club?"_

At the time, he didn't know the Socorro man who reached up from the _Falcon's_ access tube to pluck him off Cloud City's antenna, handless and half-dead, and damn close to slipping entirely. All he knew was the man was instantly his brother.

 _Lando quipped, bright and loud, "Well, hey! Why don't we just all turn ourselves in and then we won't have any more battles!"_

 _Han spread a palm to the side and announced it with flare, "And for our next segment, Jedi porn!"_

 _Crix pointed at Kess's lightsaber like she was crazy. "Aren't you going to want that thing in working condition while you're up there?"_

 _Rieekan looked Luke up and down and grinned at the parka. "You're wearing more fur than the damn tauntaun."_

 _Dodonna aimed his pointer at the diagram, "You're required to maneuver straight down this trench. . . ."_

Brothers. Fathers. Wingmen. Soldiers in arms. Buddies. Friends. . . . _Family_.

Dreis. Porkins. Dinnes. Branon. Nozzo. Nett. Ralo. Puck. Biggs. . . .

 _"You keep it up and one day wham-o! You'll be nothing more than a dark smear on a canyon wall"_

Teak. Zev. Kit. Hobbie. Dak. . . .

 _"I feel like I can take on the whole Empire myself."_

Luke had no more energy to cry, but tears bled down his face anyway.

This war had to end.

It _had_ to.

The Rebellion didn't have anyone left to lose.

* * *

Kess stared at the black bedspread, made again by the housekeeping droid, and looked out the window to the facing buildings across the side street outside. But she forced herself to focus. She shoved herself into the action of taking care of herself. She stepped into the black and sand lavatory and got distracted again by the strange shower that poured out actual water.

Such a waste.

This time, she turned the heat up a little more and stepped in naked to let the water pour over her head and unraveled hair. It felt like a hard, hot rain. She thought of the rains on Yavin 4, and the way the grass steamed when the sun came out afterwards. She remembered the night Joanne lent her a coat leaving the Mash Pit because the poor Tatooine girl couldn't handle cold breeze that night. She remembered when Kayla handed her a compression unit as they were sharing gossip so it would look like they were working. She remembered Ashten trying to carry so many datacards in her arms in such a rush that she bumped into Teak on the way into the office and the whole mess scattered all over the floor. She remembered young Seidrik trying to throw that stupid ball at the back of her head. And good ol' salty dog Stev Shorkey, _"Why aren't you at your fencing class this afternoon?"_

Too many. This was too many.

 _Yana flushed a little pinker. "I can't believe I just did that."_

 _Ashten angled her head at Yana with a smile. "I can't believe it took you so long."_

 _Kayla spread her arms with an announcement. "New project!"_

 _Still using Kess's side as backrest, Joanne spread her arms too and joined the long shout. "New project!"_

 _Ashten 'reported in' to Kayla. "Do we have a mission plan, commander?"_

 _Kayla poked a finger over. "You, my girly girl, just became a member of the Girly Girl Team."_

Half of the people at that picnic. . . .

Half of the family. . . .

 _Half!_

This was _way_ too many.

Kess curled into a ball right there on the deck of the shower stall and cried more tears than were falling onto the top of her head.


	46. LL5 45 323 Employees

On the second day of speeches, Nominee Leia Organa Solo took the floor.

Leia spoke of the future. She said that silencing any argument by force would only extend the war, for all sentient beings had the right to be heard, all beings had the right to life, all beings had the right of survival. Leia Organa Solo—and she choked to say her own name—no longer had a System to represent, no longer had a royalty to claim, for Alderaan was destroyed by the Empire. As an original member of the Senate, she understood the depths of politics, and she knew the risks and complications of corruption first hand. As a Jedi in training, of the _New_ Jedi Order, it was her intrinsic duty to use her vast political skills to force a conversation, to facilitate compromise, to control arguments only to maintain fairness, and to forever manage—doing _whatever_ it took—to uphold the Cease Fire.

"From the onset of his Senator-ship, Palpatine sowed the seeds of division amongst us, starting with Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Obi Wan Kenobi. We all know this. If you want a bloodline to be in charge, you have it. Obi Wan Kenobi was _his_ grandfather and _her_ grandfather. If you want a bloodline to the other half of this division, you have it. Because Anakin Skywalker was _my_ father. And _his_ father."

She let that pause for everyone to calm from the shock of her admission, and concluded.

"The four of us are borne from a family divided by Palpatine. _Everyone in this room_ is borne by a family divided by Palpatine. I ask you to allow me the opportunity to facilitate the healing."

They stayed an hour late that night before ringing the closing bell so that the last of the nominees could get through their speeches. Nik concluded the day with the announcement that voting would commence tomorrow.

And the cease fire held.

* * *

Now with a speeder of their own, Luke and Kess took this evening to seek out and find Vanech's whorehouse. The place was closed for business. It took one of the occupants to recognize them through the peephole before the door opened. Many of the women were covered in warm exercise clothes and comfy pajamas as they watched the Newsnets together, intense in their own discussion of political opinions. Not surprisingly, this family had been following the battle and Senate debates, now streaming live on several channels whether the Empire liked it or not.

As the two Jedi (now galactically more famous now than a week ago) walked into the lush foyer and requested to speak with Saffron, the prostitutes all sat up from their couches with big eyes and alarm.

Kess recognized many of them even if they didn't quite recognize her. Frieda pointed at her and blurted, "You're the Togrutan!"

She nodded to admit it. "I am."

They murmured at each other, mostly questioning Frieda for further understanding of the reference. Anacap pointed harder at the vid screen in anger. "Is _this_ what that was about?"

Kess nodded again and realized she didn't know in which political direction these women swayed. She shrugged with sympathy. "It was the only way to stop the war."

Saffron rushed out from somewhere in the back, shushing her staff with a gesture, and demanded answers with cold eyes alone.

Luke rubbed his lips and faced her with respect. "I'm sorry."

Saffron dropped her sights to the floor.

"After Petra's party, someone followed Vanech back to our ship and brought the guard with them. Vanech killed her and escaped with us."

"Laha," Kess put in respectfully. "It was Laha."

Saffron's eyes sliced at Kess and then sliced at Luke for more.

Luke continued, "He agreed to come to Yavin 4 so I could help him relearn some of his old Jedi training. And he did. He struggled, but he did. He agreed to help the Alliance in ways to make this attack end as fast as it could. And what he asked for in return . . . was for us to help you."

"Help us with what?"

"Safety and economic security for 323 employees." He glanced out at this small gathering now listening to this tale from the living room. "I'm assuming there's more of you out there?"

Saffron spoke in a murmur. "We have nine houses." She wasn't responding to this like she'd lost a lover, more like she'd lost a good friend and long time colleague, but it was still a loss.

Luke and Kess gave her all their contact information, including the address of where they were staying on Coruscant, and invited her and any employees to call for help if they needed it. Luke added, "But remember, we're still Jedi. Not hired thugs. Whatever help you need will have to come in a form that fits our principles."

Saffron flashed a smile of wry humor that he felt the need to say that, and nodded again. "I understand." She wasn't exactly grateful, but she thanked them anyway. Luke and Kess bid the others a respectful goodbye and left.

Back in the speeder that still smelled like new plastic, Kess and Luke paused before returning to the foreign home that still smelled of carpet shampoo and paint. Kess watched the people moving up and down the street, the neon lights and crazy clothes. Luke gazed at the buildings that towered beyond his sights through the other window.

"You didn't tell her everything," she said. In truth, he didn't tell Kess anything, but she could sense his careful wording when he was addressing Saffron.

Luke rubbed his lips and looked at his own lap.

Kess looked over at him. "What happened to Vanech?"

"He um, he split off from the unit and went on a rampage, leaving a lot of bodies. Almost like some kind of trail of crumbs for me to find him. . . . I found him in the underworks, sitting by a statue, smoking a death stick. He thanked me for trying to help him . . . and he blew himself up with a grenade."

Kess closed her eyes for a moment at it, but Luke noticed that she wasn't entirely surprised by this report.

"He had lost his daughter," she explained. "That's what turned him."

Now it was Luke to close his eyes.

"She was twelve."

For a moment, Luke let himself feel a shade of Zach's internal torture, but he nodded. Now he understood why Luke couldn't help him. Thinking back, even if Luke understood the source of Zach's pain in the beginning, he wasn't confident he would have been able to reach the man.

Indecisive of what to do next, and unenergetic to do anything anyway, Luke and Kess sat in the parked speeder for a long while longer, staring out of separate windows, and blindly held hands.


	47. LL5 46 Testosterone Contest

On the fifth day of the new Senate, they voted, but there were too many contenders for one person to claim a legitimate majority. Arguments commenced about what form of majority should decide it, and Nik wondered at Luke and Kess about allowing another round of monitored speeches on the matter.

Luke and Kess considered this for a full minute, each of them eyeing the senators in the audience shouting and/or waiting for a decision. Luke's eyes found Leia out there with the rest of the crowd.

Leia had separated herself from Mon Mothma's team and was sitting a few seats away, now commanding her own senate seat with a few assistants of her own including Winter and Chewie behind her. Her face was firm, but as Luke looked at her, he could tell Leia already had what she felt was the right answer to this issue.

He couldn't reach out to her openly. The noise in here, both audibly and on the Force, cluttered his mind from a clear focus, not to mention that Leia's still lacked the training in Force Telekinesis. He looked down at nothing, trying to figure out how to communicate with her, and lifted his eyes at her again to realize he didn't have to, for he figured out from where she would have gotten her idea.

"How did the _old_ Senate do it?" Luke asked Nik, his voice audible because he was standing so close to the mike.

Nik shrugged, but the audience was already trying to call out the answer. Luke could barely single out Leia's Force Print in this mess, but he could tell by her emotional shift that he was on the right path.

Nik saw one group trying the sticky trick of shouting politely, so he un-muted that one old politician so the man could speak a simple answer in a normal voice, "Sixty seven percent majority." Without further speech, the man kindly sat back down. Many others shot to their feet to demand they get mike time too, some yelling that it was a lie, but Nik didn't buckle under that pressure. He cleared the light board and asked them all to light yellow if they agreed with this man's report. Re-directed from their shouting, the room began to quiet down and yellow lights blinked on throughout the room . . . to the tune of about sixty-seven percent in agreement.

"Done."

Because of the competitive bids, there was no way anyone would get a 67% majority until they narrowed down the list of nominees, so the Jedi agreed to take the top 67% of the votes and whatever nominees those included, shave off the defeated names, and present a new vote with fewer contenders.

It worked like a charm.

By the end of the day, they had voted four times and narrowed the list of nominees to a manageable five, Leia and Jakobi included.

Kess could tell how badly Luke wanted to go see Leia, but in order to maintain his neutrality, he couldn't. Leia seemed to know it too, for she nodded at him as she stood at the closing bell. Kess wanted to send her soul out to the woman with some kind of Force Hug to support her. She must be suffering in terrible grief right now, and scant hints of the Force confirmed that she was, but she didn't outwardly seem like it. Leia walked out in strong silence, emanating calm, severity, and immense political power.

In truth, Kess was awed by Leia's inner strength.

Chewie stood to follow Leia, but he paused to catch the eyes of Luke and Kess staring out. He gave them a calm, distant croon, and then a deep nod of assurance. _I've got her._

It helped, but it reminded Luke just how severed he was from his own family right now. This whole Senate procedure to figure out a Chamberlain felt like it was lasting forever. The three Jedi expected it to be done by now, but admitted in a shared murmur that none of them were politicians and had walked into this task with the innocence of simple citizens.

But the cease fire held.

* * *

The horrors of running the lobby gauntlet gradually decreased, but it was still a few guaranteed minutes of their day they had to be on their tightest guard. This promulgated an unplanned ritual every time the three of them climbed into the speeder. As soon as the doors closed out everyone else, Luke, Kess, and Nik sat in silence, often closing their eyes, for as much as a full minute, before they shifted their minds to the plan out the rest of the evening chores.

This time it was Kess in the pilot's seat and thumbed on the engine with a sad grin. "Is it weird that I want to go to the Mash Pit right now?"

Luke flashed a somber smile. He looked over and took her hand from her lap to hold it in his own.

When Nik sat in the back, he always sat sideways in the backwards facing seats so he could poke a shoulder between them and join the chat. "What's the Mash Pit?"

"Oh, just some cheap dive back on Yavin 4 where we used to hang out." Kess flew them up into traffic to go home, but the traffic was intense as everyone in the Senate Dome was also rushing to go home. "I miss the place more than I miss the food though."

Fond memories allowed them all to share a moment of reverie of such places. Just thinking about it lightened the mood a little.

"There was this place in Anchorhead," Luke said distantly, "that served the best dewback asada. Hot off the grill. The building was barely big enough for the kitchen. All the seating was outside under tarps." He smiled over at them, for these two would understand this better than most everyone he knew. "Shaved ice and hot asada. In three-ten Kelvin heat."

It brought a smile to Kess's face. "Damn, dewback asada sounds good right now, doesn't it?" Something simple. Something comfortable. Something 'home'. Something that distracted their minds away from all this for a little while.

Nik wrinkled his brow, "Hell, Coruscant is supposed to have everything, right? Let's challenge that. Let's see if there's a restaurant around here that serves dewback asada."

Luke and Kess both turned their necks back at him for this idea and met each other's eyes with a new light. Luke adjusted in his seat with agreement and pulled out his commlink. "That's a damn good idea."

Luke called Artoo to plug into a public directory for such a place and got an address from the droid. Kess tried to figure out the traffic lanes as all three worked together to figure out the directions against the reality, finding themselves in a working class area of town. Commercial signage and neon overwhelmed tastefully quiet street signs. The zoo of traffic both on the ground and in the air made it difficult to figure out where to park and how to walk back to the place. People gave them a double-take as the three walked down the street, but no one approached, and Luke held Kess's hand in public whether people recognized them or not.

The restaurant was hardly a hole in the wall, and access came by a dedicated elevator that sank into the city for dozens of levels. But it was big inside but mostly empty of patrons. The heat was cranked up so high that all three of them paused pleasantly and absorbed the warmth like lizards. Poorly spackled stucco tried to make the metal walls look like sand adobe. A beginner's attempt at mural covered the one with a painting of the Jundland Wastes and twin sunsets. But the part about it that made them all really smile was that 'TeeDee's Q' was owned and operated entirely by jawas.

The hosts were in full robes with lighted eyes just like their brethren, but these were very clean and very polite. At the gestured invitation of a waiter, they moved to a human-sized round table in the corner and shared new smiles to look this place over. It was all so fake, and cheap, and simple, but it still somehow helped them enjoy a momentary feeling of home. Luke looked over at Nik in true friendliness. "This was a good idea."

A jawa came over peeping in its own language and began to hand out translated menus, but Nik politely waved it all off. "Three dewback asadas with ice waters."

The jawa paused, aiming its bright eyes in surprise at each of them. " _Tweedy bizo joo? Vando yee? Dabble kyo madala?_ "

Nik sat up and commanded it. " _Dee_."

The jawa nodded, took the menus, and turned away with a shrugging voice. " _Abdo bee_."

Still softly humored by this place, the three of them folded their elbows on the stone tabletop, causing Luke and Nik to share a smile across the table from each other. Luke said, "The real test is going to be how greasy it is."

"It needs to be dripping," Nik agreed as if this was a most serious matter.

And Luke agreed further, "Dripping so bad you can fuel a skyhopper with the puddle on the plate."

Nik narrowed his eyes and scratched the stubble on his chin to consider Luke in depth.

Kess braced herself with a grin. A testosterone contest was about to commence.

"Do you know how to do that?" Nik challenged, "Turn animal grease into fuel?"

Luke admitted. "I tried it once but it didn't come out pure enough. Gummed up the thrusters. It took me two months to take it apart and clean it all out."

Nik approved of this answer. "What kind of hopper did you have?"

The ice waters arrived, accompanied by communal flat bread fresh out of the oven.

The conversation continued. And though Kess had thoughts to contribute to this topic, she opted to stay out of it and let the two men verbally grope each other out. It didn't take the Force to know what this discussion was really about. Kess nibbled the bread in silence and listened to Nik say everything but, 'I know you're banging my little sister so you'd better prove your honorable intentions before I beat your ass, _slaymo_.'

And though Luke had little experience in this kind of test, he seemed educated enough in the tradition to handle this with poise, responding with everything but, 'I _am_ banging your little sister, _eyeta_ , and my intentions are so honorable that I'm not going to stop whether you like it or not, so _bring it_.'

But the actual words actually coming out of their mouths were things like:

"Did you ever thread the needle?"

"Yeah, I did. Once. And I almost killed myself doing it. You?"

"Nah. Never got into flying. Grandpa took me up once and _scared the living shit_ out of me the way he flew that thing."

The food arrived on chipped ceramic plates. The dewback asada was still sizzling in its own liquid fat. Forks stabbed with fervor.

"I understand your grandfather was a pretty impressive pilot in his day."

"Yeah, but I didn't know that at the time," Nik chuckled. "I thought he was senile. I swore he was going to fly us right into a mountain. Nah, I was more partial to dune buggies."

Luke smiled as he chewed and nodded at his plate. "I had a few near-death experiences in those too."

"Sounds like you got a death wish."

"Nah. Just an adrenaline junkie. Back then, anyway."

Though his voice was light with humor, the words carried a different message. "Amazing what a Tat-boy will do to impress a girl, huh?"

 _And there it is._ Kess thought.

Luke nodded thoughtfully at his plate as he scooped up the next bite. "Turns out Tat-girls are more impressed by safer stuff."

"Oh?" Nik's grinning eye peeked up. "And what would that be?"

Luke met the gaze. "Just tell 'em the truth."

Nik hitched and grumbled down at his plate. "Sometimes that ain't any safer."

"That much is true." Easy voice, but bold eyes. "But it's worth it."

Nik's eyes flicked back up.

"When it's the right one," Luke pointed out.

 _And there's the answer._ Kess thought.

The conversation quieted for a moment as Nik absorbed this sub-conscious information. All three of them were busy eating anyway. The dewback asada was delicious. Luke said nothing more. It was Nik's turn to respond, but Kess could see Luke grinning with secret confidence to wait for Nik's final judgment.

Nik glanced over at Kess. "You're awfully quiet over there."

"I'm eating," Kess said around her chewing. Per the same set of sub-conscious rules, it was her duty to stay out of this pissing contest. If her man couldn't win on his own merits, he lost by default.

Nik eyed her, eyed Luke, and lifted his chin with a change of subject. "So I've got a question for you." He cleared his throat and squinted. "Do you have to lift your hand to do the Telekinesis thing?"

"No." Luke shrugged. "It's easier, but no, you don't have to. Why?"

"Because this has been bugging me for a while. Kay Kay swears it was a gust of wind, but I think Grandpa did it."

Luke began to smile. "What did he do?"

 _And now the story-telling starts_. Kess scratched the corner of her eye to hide the grin over Nik's chosen form of approval.

Nik launched into the tale, "This one time we were supposed to be shoveling the sand out of the driveway after a big storm. We were twelve or something." He elbowed Kess. "You remember?"

She nodded and tried not to groan in spite of it.

"And we didn't feel like doing it. So we sat down against the wall to grab some shade and were still sitting there talking when Grandpa and Grandma came over for dinner that night."

Luke's eyes brightened to listen, not just at the tale, but also at the verdict that 'telling a tale' carried.

Nik straightened and imitated Old Ben pretty well. "'What are you two doing out here?' And Kay Kay over here tries to feed him a line of bullshit. 'We're shoveling the sand out of the driveway. Can't you tell?' So Grandpa looks at her, looks at me, and turns to look at all the sand, then the half-buried shovels next to the wall. And he looks at Kess with The Eyes."

"Yes, the You're Full Of Shit Eyes," Kess chortled. She could talk now that the competition was over.

Luke laughed at all this and nodded at his food. "I am familiar with The Eyes."

Nik grew boisterous to tell the tale. "So Kess tells him, 'We're in Jedi school. This is our homework in a lesson about moving things with our brain.'"

Kess hid her silent laughter with her hand and Luke smiled big to imagine this memory.

Nik resumes his Old Ben imitation. "I see,' Grandpa says. 'So what are you trying to move: the sand? Or the shovel?' And Kess goes, 'Well the sand, of course, because that's what's supposed to get out of the driveway. Right?' So Grandpa says (again with The Eyes) 'And how's that working out for you?'"

All three of them curled over with giggles to relive the Obi Wan Kenobi 'You're Full Of Shit Eyes' with the quote.

Nik recovered to quote his sister. "So she looks him with a straight face and shakes her head. 'Meh, we're totally gonna fail this class.'"

Kess was hiding her hard-laughing face.

Nik was barely intelligible through his snickering. "Grandpa just kinda shrugged a little smile and went inside, but as soon as he left— _I shit you not—_ both shovels lifted _out_ of the sand and fell over _specifically_ to knock Kess in the head."

"The wind blew them over," Kess groaned.

Nik squeaked at her. "They were buried in the drift by a full meter! Even if a new storm blew through they would not have just 'fallen over'."

Kess rolled her eyes at this ancient argument.

"You always said he couldn't have done it just because he didn't lift his hand."

She rolled her eyes over at her brother. "The wind blew them over."

Nik lifted his voice and gestured hard. "You _still_ believe that?" He pointed at Luke. "With _this_ man sitting at this table? With _that_ thing hanging off your hip? After all the truth you found out about Grandpa? You still believe those things didn't have help hitting you in the noggin?"

Luke watched Kess grin bashfully. Her brown eyes shifted to the ceiling to admit defeat in a years old debate. "Okay, _fine_. You made your point." Curled in on herself with smiling humility, she focused on her next bite of asada.

It was good to see her smile again. It felt good for Luke himself to smile again. This dinner was a momentary reprieve from the madness and sorrow of the last few days. They _needed_ this. Nik was alive with the same vim and vigor as when Luke met him the first time back in Mos Eisley, but this time Nik knew that Luke and Kess were seeing each other, so the story-telling meant so much more.

They finished the meal without a bite left on their plates but puddles of 'skyhopper fuel'. Their stomachs ached from being stuffed after hardly eating for so long. They went back to the apartment chatting about water showers and air-conditioning. Nik bid them good night and separated to the office to make his nightly comm call to Gina. Luke and Kess moved into their bedroom and Luke offered again for her to take her shower first.

And he paid attention to see if she noticed he was always inviting her to take her shower first.

Because Luke had fallen into a temporary ritual: as soon as he heard her step into the water, he pulled off his boots and fished the locket out of his sock so it could hide out the night inside an empty shoe.

This time, Luke risked an extra moment to look at it.

It didn't have a string yet, nor the loops for one. The carving was still too sparse. He'd left the chinkle tool on the _Mon Icarus_. But the meld was holding. And the few carvings it had were already growing darker from the sweat and dirt of hiding next to his ankle.

This last week could likely be the worst they would ever endure, but Luke grinned distantly to think on how strongly glued they'd become to face it together, soldered securely into one object, just like the two nuggets of bone.

Marriage.

His heart swelled to think of it now. He grinned some more, brushing his thumb over the incomplete carving, and decided it was time to start looking out for a new chinkle tool.


	48. LL5 47 An Exception and a Decline

This senate thing dragged on and on but sitting on the spire to watch the detail, Kess began to understand why fair legislation took so long. Allowing all representatives to put forth their ideas and discuss them into a compromise took a lot of time. Kess began to see the Senate Chamber as though she had her head under the hood of a combustible engine, watching all the parts move as it idled. Each hitch in the process prompted a slight adjustment. An incorrect adjustment caused parts to bang against each other and the engine would stop. But an adjustment with which all the parts could operate would fine-tune the machine workings even further and the engine would move a little faster.

Now Kess was beginning to really see the difference. A week into this thing, they had somehow managed to take an engine so out-of-whack it was banging hard against itself and headed for an explosion, and now had adjusted it enough that most Senators stood up, sparked, and sat down, taking their turns to keep the engine moving, like a room full of timed pistons.

But their lives seemed to be doing the same. Small adjustments gradually made their lives easier to operate. A committee independently formed to organize a handful of assistants for the Jedi crew. At first, Luke was hesitant to accept the help, but their lives were still such a mess that he agreed to it for now. A Twi'lek, a Human, and an Ugnaught helped quicken the research for bits of political data, organized the new database of Senators, and even ran out into town to buy them a change of clothes.

Kess's first request of these aides was to find Yana Deitrich. She was on the WIA list, Kess explained, because friends spotted her still alive as an emergency medical crew hauled the woman away, but that was the last anyone saw of her. Now six days since the battle, her worry that she'd lost the last Girly Girl was becoming unbearable.

The human assistant, a gentle but energetic man by the name of Raól, proved his worth by coming back with a report by the end of day.

"She's alive." It was how he said hello. He allowed Kess and Luke a sigh of relief, then gladly explained the detail.

Yana was hit twice by blaster fire. Once in the shoulder and another skimmed her head. The second shot cut into her skull and sizzled out a slice of her brain matter, causing a temporary coma. This was why the hospital didn't know her identity to report Yana's location. The medical staff warned that Yana would likely have trouble speaking for the rest of her life, but cognitive tests confirmed that her personality and intelligence were still in there.

"So she's awake?"

" _Sometimes_. She's going to need a couple of surgeries so they're keeping her sedated to reduce brain activity until they can get in there. I told them to have her awake this evening so you could go see her."

Kess clopped her palms together at Raól and shook them with immense appreciation. "You are my new best friend!"

Raól gladly flew them over to the hospital so the gang wouldn't have to mess with trying to find the place, during which Luke commed a friend of his own.

Wedge declined somberly. "I wanted you to ask her first."

"We will," Luke assured, "but that doesn't mean you can't already be in the hall when we do."

So Wedge hesitantly met the group at the hospital entrance. Wedge and Nik nodded hello again and reminded each other of their names. Raól was introduced all around. Kess rushed ahead and sought out the right authority to get a full report on Yana's health. It was much of the same information, but now Kess thought to ask an additional question. "Has she seen The List?"

The nurse queried. "What list?"

"Killed in Action."

The man nodded and reported with gentleness. "After asking her location, her first question was for the status of the battle and the list of the affected soldiers."

Kess rubbed her lips, nodded, and eyed Luke and Wedge to find they had no intent to go in until Kess took care of her hello first.

She stepped into the hospital room and found the woman propped up in an angled bed.

Yana instantly smiled in a heaving, crying breath of relief to see her.

Kess ran over and hugged her from the bedside. Yana wrapped her good arm around Kess's shoulders. Her other arm was still in a sling. Her brown hair was loose all over the pillow, but the left half of her beautiful hair had been shaved off for the bandage covering the side of her head.

Yana didn't say anything. She didn't have to. She started crying in Kess's shoulder, gripping the woman's tunic and shuddering with horror at the losses she'd just learned.

Luke took a step down the hall only to peek at them through the angle through the open door. Wedge stood out of sight with Raól and Nik, but all listened with sadness.

Sniffles and smiles, and Kess backed up to sit on Yana's bedside. "I am so glad to see you. You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

Yana nodded more than she spoke, wiping her eyes with the back of her good hand. "Ya." Her mouth moved to try to speak more, but she couldn't find the words. Her hand gestured, her face shrugged, she motioned with frustration at her own mouth, and her hand shrugged again. "I uh . . . can't—" She gave up trying, closed her eyes, and sniffled again. "Dammit."

Kess made a joke with it. "Well your cussing wasn't affected. At least you have that."

Yana laughed and new tears sprinkled her eyelashes. "Ya." But she brightened and lifted an index finger. "But!" She motioned over to a datalink resting on rolling table with her dinner leftovers. Kess went over to get it, looked at it to find nothing, and sat back down to hand it over. Yana grinned because this was a development she just learned. "But." Her cast hand struggled to bring up the datalink, but when she had a grip on it, her thumbs flew across the tiny keyboard and handed it to Kess.

But I still gots my mad typing skillz.

"Just not your spelling," Kess laughed back. The moment of play calmed back to reality. They were trying to make jokes to keep the moment from growing heavy, but it grew heavy anyway. Kess kept Yana's eyes and held her good hand, squeezing hard, both of them equally overwhelmed with sadness and relief.

"We'll raise a beer together as soon as you're out of here."

Yana grinned to that and nodded fervent agreement. "Ya."

"But I should quit hogging you. I'm not the only one that came to see you."

Yana's brows angled, grinned dirty, and wriggled suggestively.

Kess smiled. "Yes, he's here too. But that's not the one I'm talking about."

Shifty, Yana's brows wrinkled with questions. Kess turned her head and called them to come in. Yana stretched her neck to around Kess to see who it was.

Luke strolled in with a grin at her. "Hi Yana."

Yana waved and smiled at Luke, but she stretched her neck even more because there were other bodies out the door. She eyed Luke, then flicked her chin at the empty doorway, questioning again.

Luke smiled through the door. "You'd better get in here before she jumps out of this bed."

With chin down and eyes up, like a crewman Reporting As Ordered to face a reprimand, Wedge stepped carefully into the room and tried to grin.

Yana's eyes bulged. Her mouth opened to a new smile. She had a voice to breathe and laugh through her overwhelming relief to see him. Her lips tried to make words but they couldn't. She shook her head, smiled anyway, and dropped back against the angle of the bed.

Kess stood and turned away, eyeing Luke, and ushered them both back to the hallway. But they stopped there and listened in like bandits.

Yeah, sorry about that. Everyone seems to think this was a bigger deal than it got." Wedge groaned apologetically. "I tried to tell them you don't date pilots, but they don't listen to me."

Yana forced herself to speak, and Wedge was patient to let her get through it. "I . . . th-think . . . I c'n . . . ." She huffed in frustration and gave up, but Wedge said nothing to interrupt her.

There was a long pause. Wedge wasn't going to speak again until she was finished.

Yana fought to finish her sentence. "Make . . . an ex-excep-tion," her voice sighed into a smile, "in . . . your case."

Wedge's voice curled in playful dare. "Are you asking me out?"

Luke and Kess heard the two laughing together. They stepped away to give the Wedge and Yana some real privacy, but they still heard Yana's voice through the open door, fighting her own mouth make it insist the obvious. "Ya."

In the hallway, Kess held Luke and gladly meditated in his arms while they waited. Wedge wasn't in there for very long before he poked his head out to motion the rest in. The med staff was making noises that they had to sedate her again before much longer, so Yana finished all remaining conversation with the datalink. Introductions all around. Yana's eyes shined at 'Emperor Nik', typing that he looked like his sister. Luke asked Raól to get Yana a new data-commlink so they could stay directly in touch. Wedge seemed to want to fade into the wall, but she typed one last thing before they all left and handed it over to Wedge.

He read it. His eyes shined. And he handed it back.

"What did she say?" Luke asked him as they all walked out.

Wedge looked over at the other man, but his glow was obvious. "None of your business."

* * *

Returning home, they discovered another development. Instead of finding a clean and sparsely filled apartment, the sand and black great room was now cluttered with stacks of dinged up crates, green canvas seabags, and one big hand-me-down Oroblam terminal.

Nik spread his palms. "What the hell is all this?"

Luke and Kess shined to step up and review it all. "Our stuff." Kess moved to the seabags and Luke stepped to the terminal. They gazed over all the mismatched crap, unorganized and cluttering the beautiful room, and grinned more that now— _now_ —the place was starting to feel like a home.

Luke's squatted in front the terminal and crates and his eyes were already beginning to sort out the project in his mind. "Threepio—?"

His eyes caught on the silver/black droid who looked back at him like he was insane. "My designation is Eye-D-Ten-T."

Luke dropped his hand to his knee. His brows lifted into his forehead and a grin stretch across his face. "You're kidding. Really?"

The silver man nodded and propped up with pride. "Most sentients call me Eye-D. You are welcome to call me that as well."

Nik blinked. His voice deep. "Eye-D-Ten-T."

The droid looked over at him. "Yes."

"Spells _IDIOT_."

The droid angled its head, shuffled oddly, and addressed Luke again. "I prefer to be called Eye-D."

Luke laughed tightly at the floor in front of him and motioned the droid. "Eye-D, can you move this terminal into the office, please?"

"Of course, Master Luke." He shuffled to turn around. "R2-D2?"

Artoo rolled out from the other room and swiveled his head to squint at the protocol. He beeped, "What do you want, Idiot?"

"Will you assist me in this effort?"

Luke stood on his feet and watched Artoo roll over like the old droid was shaking his head in a grumble at having such a young droid order him around. Kess smiled at it all and hefted her seabag onto her back to carry it into the bedroom.

Luke opened the first crate and asked Nik off-handedly. "When are you going to ship Gina out?"

Nik sat down at the dining table and quieted.

Luke detected his mood shift and did a double-take.

"She's not coming."

Luke turned away from his unpacking and stepped carefully over to the dining table to sit down, but he didn't relax in the chair.

"When this is over," Nik fidgeted his hands together on the tabletop and kept his voice low, "I'm going home."

Luke tried to contain his disappointment and stopped himself from trying to argue Nik out of it. He nodded vaguely and met the man's eyes with respect. "I understand."

"I see the work your doing," Nik assured. "And it's a lot of work. And I want to help but," he shook his head, shifting his eyes to look out the giant city out the big window, and shook his head again. "I don't want to raise my son here. And Gina . . . she's not ready for this."

Luke absorbed it in silence.

"She needs me home. For her, it's still happening; _I'm still gone._ I need to go . . . play remote control cars with my little scrapper and . . . sit on the porch swing with my girl and . . . and just sit there. For hours. With nothing happening."

Luke grinned softly at the image of a simple life. He nodded again.

Nik combed his fingers through his messy brown hair and huffed hard, but he lifted his face. "But. That said, just between you and me." His hand dropped to the tabletop with a thud. "When you get this . . . Academy thing . . . up and running . . . assuming it isn't _here_ ," brown eyes sparked to meet Luke's with respect, "Ask me again."

Luke smiled, then he nodded with firm agreement.


	49. LL5 48 And the Cease Fire Held

On the seventh day of the new Senate, Luke and Kess stood behind Nikolai Lendra on the Chancellor's spire to rise into the throat of the Senate one last time.

They wanted to be able to pray hard for the results of this day, but they had to be careful that their special powers in such an effort didn't influence the hundreds of minds around them. There was no indication of which way the vote would fall. Both the Empire and the Alliance had hundreds of supporters in this room. Their only optimistic notice was that, in the all the long days since this whole thing began, the players in this game were speaking less and listening more.

As Luke and Kess two sat in the chairs behind Nik, Kess grasped onto the feeble hope that these empowered politicians would force this new senate to continue even if Jakobi won the vote. But Luke felt pessimistically that the whole war would start all over again if anyone but Leia ascended to this spire.

Nik seemed equally hesitant to call for the final guillotine to fall. He rang the opening bell, but for a long minute, he remained as stiffly silent as the vast audience.

Kess lifted her eyes to his back, wondering if he froze, or needed help, but found her brother turning his face fully from left to right, up and down, taking in the sights of everyone in this room, everyone sitting with patience, everyone quiet to listen. His voice carried out through every speaker.

And, for this one moment in time, Nicolai Lendra was truly an Emperor.

"A week ago, none of you would shut up. You were all so desperate to be heard that you couldn't remember how to take turns. Today, you're all waiting for your turn to speak, but you've already learned how to speak in a different way. I'm going to flip this little switch in a minute, and all of you will speak, but you're going to speak louder without even opening your mouths, without getting up from your chairs, without pointing blasters at each other. But just by pushing a button."

His eyes continued to gaze out, shifting back and forth across the room, up and down, as if he was trying to look into the eyes of every face that looked at him. "No matter the outcome of this vote today, I ask you to note the power and fairness of this manner of speaking. Whether we are about to become a new Alliance, or another Empire, or even some completely different form of government that I can't even imagine, I ask you to keep up this practice. Hold forums like this so we can all keep trying to work it out. Consider how many lives _haven't_ died this week just because we decided to stop shooting at each other."

He paused a long moment, then added. "Consider the lives that _did_ die . . . just so we would."

He sounded like he was going to say something else, but he didn't. He gazed at it all, flipped the switch, stepped back to sit down in the chair between Luke and Kess.

And let it go.

On many of the Senate stations, blue lights lit up with a resounding chorus of chimes, indicating that vote was tallied. Several groups erupted in a shouting match at each other as the infighting of certain systems argued over the final decision of their people. Over the next several minutes, a dozen new blue lights blinked on with singular chimes to accompany each vote. Kess could see the blur of text on the console in front of them, showing the increasing numbers of the results racking up, but she couldn't see enough to know what it said. And the information wasn't transmitted for anyone else to know it either, not until the voting was done. Luke and Nik also knew the information was right there, a meter away. All they had to do was stand up to see it. They still had time to mind trick people into voting a certain way. They still had time to Force Push the buttons themselves.

But none of them got up. None of them looked at it. It was a statement in itself that the three of them just sat there and waited in silence for 'this manner of speaking' to run its course without Jedi interference.

It took hours. They waited. They watched. They didn't interrupt when one politician shouted obscenities from the stands. They didn't move when an aide reported his Senator was stuck in traffic and on the way. They didn't get up to peek for the status of the tally when people begged them from the corners to clue them on how it was going.

As the time ticked towards what should have been the closing bell, several of the votes still had yet to light up, so Nik crossed his ankles out in front of him, lounged like he was about to watch a game on the vid, and waited some more.

Aides rushed in through a lobby door with whispers and communiqués, and two more blue lights lit up. Senators rubbed their faces and scratched their heads, and a few more blue lights lit up. By now, there was enough of a tally to make a decision, but Nik crossed his arms at his chest and waited some more. Now he stared specifically at the few stations with unlit indicators until they crumbled under the pressure and made a fucking decision.

By the time they were down to one Senate station left, the entire room waited. Now they were _all_ staring at the whispered fighting in the little group, putting them on the biggest hot plate in the galaxy to just get it over with.

With a distant cuss and the continued bitching of that final Senatorial group, the last of the blue lights lit up.

Nik scratched his chin, picked up a large datafolio from a supply cubby, and tossed onto the console display before he stood up to see what it said. Kess and Luke shared a grin on how he was handling it and, for a moment, both of them were starting to want Nik to be the Emperor anyway.

Nik spoke into the mike as if he'd been waiting for this moment the whole time. "I hereby resign my position as Emperor."

Only then did he remove the datafolio and read the results for himself. Grinning anew, he lifted his face and announced it the same time he typed in the command to pushed the data back out to be read on all the Senate seats as well.

"At opening bell tomorrow, I invite Chamberlain Leia Organa Solo to take command of this Senate."

Everyone in the chamber launched to their feet.

Shouts of victory. Shouts of complaint. Shouts of cheating. Shouts for a recount.

The spire sank back down into the well.

Shouts on the vid. Shouts on the Newsnets. Shouts in bars. Shouts in barracks.

Luke raced out to the coliseum lobby and rushed for a hug as soon as his sister came out of the chamber.

Shouts in carriers. Shouts from hospital beds. Shouts in the streets. Shouts on the airways.

Leia pulled from Luke and stepped passed him to face Nik and Kess. She smiled with sadness and appreciation in her eyes. In front of the whole, growing crowd, she bowed.

But then she stepped closer and opened her arms with a family-sized hug for them both.

* * *

There was a private celebration that night, but it was subdued and short. Luke and Leia spent most of the little reception with their arms wrapped around the other's shoulders. Chewie hooked his arm around Kess's neck and dragged her over to the bar for a drink. Nik didn't seem to want all the attention he was getting from everyone, but he suffered it politely. Mon Mothma noted that, once Miss Yana Deitrich recovered, despite the verbal handicap, she could still hold an important career as a data admin for many of the new Senators, perhaps even the Chamberlain herself. Admiral Ackbar was back on his fins, and now the discussion commenced on how to secure the two militaries into a single-functioning unit.

To which Leia piped up ordered the room, "No politics." They all looked at her, and she lowered her chin. Her eyes were deeply sad, but a smile of strength rested on her mouth. "Save it for the workday."

Per his request, Kess and Luke flew Nik to the airport that very night. Brother and sister shared a hug of infinite proportions before Nik turned to Luke and offered a manly handshake, but the handshake turned into another hug and a strong pat on the back, during which Nik muttered in secret. "Welcome to the family."

Luke hadn't talked Nik about the wedding locket. He didn't know if Nik knew about it or just suspected it. Perhaps the man was already using his Force skill more than Luke realized. Nik's last expression to Luke was a clear reminder to, 'Set it up. Then ask me again.'

They waved at him once more as Nik gladly turned to the gate and rushed onto the transport.

* * *

The last act of the Rebel Alliance was to stand in the traditional honor of one final Mourning Ceremony. This time Mon Mothma instructed them all to wear civilian clothes. Leia invited the Imperials and civilians to join them in the tradition. The sun shined in a cold brightness on the Avenue of the Core Founders that day. Thousands came out of the woodwork in crowds. The rebels found each other anyway and organized themselves back into their old companies, but no one took muster call. They made fun with shouting the orders to stand at attention, dress themselves into a clean-standing formation, and snap to a pristine salute.

Luke and Kess stood with Wedge and what was left of Rogue Group. Leia and Chewie stood with Ackbar and Nieb and what was left of the 'core founders' of rebel command. Mon Mothma explained in her speech that she had no medal to hand out this time; the person who had earned it the most had declined to receive it. "He said he wasn't a soldier, or a politician. He didn't choose this fight. And he didn't want to take away the honor from the people who did."

Crix Madine's voice echoed in Kess's head. _"The rebellion won because we all worked for it. All of us jumped into the fray_ _not_ _expecting to win. Not even expecting to live! Luke wouldn't have won at the Death Star if his wingman wasn't willing to die to protect his flank. Those are the heroes, Kess. Not the ones who live to get the medals."_

Mon Mothma continued, "We have a lot of work ahead of us. And this work is going to be more difficult. Instead of taking up arms, now we have to force ourselves to put them down. But we are still a family. And we've been through so much. So in all the days that follow this one, in those moments it becomes tempting to strike out again, remember those who gave their lives so that this family could reach _this_ conclusion."

The bell rang for the Minute of Silence.

Kess lowered her eyes to stare at the duracrete in front of her combat boots, and she remembered all the faces she would never see again.

But she smiled through her tears, because she knew, somewhere in the Force, they would live forever.


	50. LL5 49 Burn Out

It was supposed to be over by now, but the tidbit bullshit seemed to stretch on. Leia asked Kess and Luke to help reorganize the Red Guard and Alliance Security forces into a singular Senate Guard to keep the Federal Complex safe. That project took several days. Several groups sought them out to start mediation services for issues too isolated to burden immensity of the full Senate or too urgent to wait for the Senate to get fully organized. At first, Luke and Kess tried to jump in and help, but it was difficult to manage vehement arguments in the public display of the coliseum lobby. With the shipment of personal effects still scattered about the apartment, the place was in no shape to host dozens of political operatives, and they had no other neutral location in which to facilitate the mediations to conclusion.

The donated time of the assistants expired the moment the Chamberlain took the spire. Artoo was instrumental in delivering messages, and that helped, but Eye-D was the property of the apartment complex, which limited his available range from the building. They assigned the house droid to the comm terminal as a focal point to receive all the messages and started receiving requests of all kinds. Requests for mediations. Requests for newsnet interviews. Requests for dinner parties from politicians that wanted to show off their new connections. . . .

Politically, they couldn't turn any of it down. They needed donations to start rolling in, and to do that, they needed to advertise (tastefully) their continuing service as Neutral Jedi. With difficulty, they managed to press back all these invitations with assurances that they would get to them all eventually, but they needed some time to sort out their own facilities first.

Probably because of those mediation mishaps, rumors started circulating about the new-formed Senate Appropriations Committee assigning the Jedi a group of offices, specifically located inside the Federal Complex so they would be close by to help with all the political turmoil that still needed unraveling. Luke sent a message with full of appreciation of the gesture but was firm that they could only accept it if the Jedi didn't have to pay rent on the preciously located office space. (Kess expected that meant the answer would be 'no' and wondered secretly if they were going to end up operating out of some reclaimed section of the Jedi Temple ruins in the underworks . . . with the rats.)

She felt like they were waiting for something. Waiting for this life to become routine. Waiting for Coruscant to feel like home. Waiting to get back to the clearing. . . . That impossible thought brought her to find a second wind of patience and push ahead with the What's Next of it all.

But she felt she had a kind of secret weapon now, because she wasn't facing it all this by herself. There was no expectation of public displays of affection, but there was no hesitation for a supportive hug or a holding hand when they were alone. And it wasn't about hiding anything, Kess learned. A newsnet shoved a vidcam in their faces with intruding questions about that big kiss before the launch. Kess hardly had a chance to consider an appropriate response before Luke answered, and he said it directly at the vidcam as though it was a stupid question. "We're mating." And he walked away with a shrug.

Not that any actual 'mating' was happening these days, but they acted like they were. Once, her temper flared when a Senator yelled at her in front of everyone, so Luke stepped in to take the brunt of it and covered for her so she could hide in the bathroom to calm down for a few minutes. Another time, he grew frustrated with the circular logic of an arrogant politician, so Kess took over and allowed Luke a chance to hide away in an empty office so he could growl and rage without anyone witnessing it. When they finally dragged their weary minds back to the apartment at night, one would cook dinner while the other meditated at length in a spare bedroom. And it became habit that she always took her shower first and he stepped in immediately afterwards. It was the only moment of their day they saw each other naked, and that was no longer a significant event, but they were both too weary do anything with the opportunity.

The only invitation they didn't postpone was a lunch meeting in Leia's new 'Chamberlain' offices, and that turned out to be not much more than a business meeting where Luke and Kess learned of things to which they were not otherwise privy. Chewie was ever-present at Leia's side because he now served officially as the Chamberlain's personal bodyguard. Yana didn't know it yet, but she had a reserved spot on Leia's research team once the woman got out of the hospital. Rogue Group was reorganized as 'Division One', based now in an old TIE fighter pad near the airport and refitted with A-Wings instead of X-wings. The _Falcon_ was going to be fine, but _Red Five,_ unfortunately, had to be scrapped.

As for the Jedi side of things, Leia pressured them to hire an assistant to start sorting out all the mediation requests and set up offices somewhere. She suggested they start a public channel to express what resource donations they needed, for not everyone wanted to donate in the form of money. Case in point, Ambassador Danje was successful to get the Serra Six to each donate one month's rent on their apartment. She also informed them she had assigned one of her accountants to keep a secured eye on the Jedi Account to watch for any illegal taps against the balance, but she urged them to review the expenses since scrutiny on that issue was already coming in from the public. Living on Coruscant was expensive.

Luke put down his fork and propped his elbows so he could hide his eyes in his hands. His clenched jaw brought on a moment of concerned silence among the four of them. Under the table, Kess reached over and put a hand on his knee, but she too closed her eyes to calm herself from the stress.

Leia clasped her hands in front of her mouth and watched them with respect. Chewie hooted a gentle suggestion that the two needed to take a day off.

To this, Luke opened his eyes and challenged the two of them in return. "Have _you_ taken a day off?"

"Yes." Leia eyed him as though she was scolding him for it. "He may not be here, but I still follow his guidance. I stop at twenty hundred every night and block out the galaxy every Benduday. I couldn't keep up this pace if I didn't."

Luke pressed a sympathetic mouth and nodded. "How's the baby?"

"Growing," Leia said with a smile in her sad eye. "Luke, _I need you_ to not burn out on me. I'm going to need you both in top condition when this 'apprentice' arrives with a Han Solo attitude."

This brought about sad grins from them all.

"Battles are easy," Leia told them. "Mediation is _hard_. Organization takes a long time, and a lot of patience, but the more you organize the easier it all gets."

Luke took in a deep breath and met his sister's wiser eyes.

Leia insisted it gently, "This is the long haul. _This_ is what we were fighting for. Don't burn out on me now."

Kess watched Luke lower his eyes and nod. His hand came down to his knee and squeezed hers, holding it there. He returned to eating but noted humbly, "I agree with all that, but Leia, we don't have much to organize. We need the Academy to start training help, and we need the help to get through all this muck before we can start putting together the Academy." With another sigh, he rubbed his eyebrow with the heal of his palm.

Leia shined a loving smile at him. "Luke, you reap what you sew."

He hitched a tired laugh. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Leia picked up her fork and shined a glint from under her eyebrows. "Have you even _looked_ at what you have to organize?"

Kess cocked her head. Luke considered Leia for a long moment.

The Chamberlain spoke as if this was a secret. "Take a few days off from the political arena and sort out _what you_ _already_ _have_."

The hint was strong enough without the arched brow or the ripple on the Force of a sister telling a brother to 'quit being an idiot', but Kess couldn't tell if this was Leia's way of saying there was plenty in the Jedi Account already, or if she was talking about some resource they had yet to discover.

Either way, the suggestion was convincing enough. As soon as the lunch was over, Luke cornered Kess in a quiet spot in the hall and asked her vote about taking a week away from the politics to just to focus on sorting everything out.

Kess agreed with an abundance of relief. " _Please!_ We need to do laundry. We need to unpack. We need to program Eye-D with a visitor's access list. We need to find a way for you to get your adrenaline fix so you're not bouncing off the walls like you have been." She rubbed her own face with her palms and chuckled through a weary groan.

Luke eyed her curiously. "If you wanted to do this so badly, why didn't _you_ suggest it?"

She crossed her arms at her chest and admitted supportively. "Because I know you don't like to take Bendudays off."

"But I _do_ like to take Bendudays off," he smiled a shy whine.

"Then why didn't you ever want to take a day off when I was training?" She accused playfully.

He stepped forward only to lower his face closer and lower his voice softer, "Because _you_ _are_ how I take a day off."

Kess recognized the truth with a warm smile in her soul: she would have burned out a long time ago if she didn't have him so securely by her side. And she was beginning to realize that he, too, would have burned out by now if he didn't have her. The only certain resource they had was each other.

And that made all the difference.


	51. LL5 50 Unpacking

_You don't need a whole mission plan before getting started on the obvious stuff._ On their first day free from the political arena—and it was their first day off since that picnic back on Yavin 4—Luke and Kess set forth on the project of unpacking.

The shipment had lost its organization of His and Hers before it even arrived, and now was in a complete tangle. Crates were everywhere, many lying open where someone had rushed to dig for something specific. Dresser drawers were a mix and match accident of whose clothes were whose. The Jedi database still had yet to be plugged-in and booted up. At first, the clutter had made them feel a little more at home, but the mess was starting wear on their sanity.

This was the first time they saw the apartment in the daytime. The morning sun shined almost sideways through the wall of windows and lit up the carpet to look like actual sand, which was kind of cool. For the first time ever, they didn't entirely get dressed for the day. He left his blue shirt unbuttoned over his white undertank and rolled his sleeves to his elbows. Kess went barefoot, left her long hair hanging unbraided, and wore nothing more than a thin layer of exercise clothes. They sent Artoo and Eye-D on errands just to get the droids out of the house. They shut down the commlinks and comm terminal and redirected all incoming messages to the mail. They sipped blue bottles of sweetwater and listened to a public channel of music as they began their work in individual corners of the great room. Conversation was light and punctuated with a few moments of humor.

While digging through the top of a stack of crates, Kess pulled out a chinkle tool she didn't own, shifted her eyes with confusion, and looked back into the box that was clearly _her_ stuff. "I don't remember stealing this from anybody."

Squatted on his haunches over a different crate, Luke sat up quickly and snapped his mouth closed. "It's mine," he admitted. "I just tossed it in there when I was done with it." He watched carefully in case she reacted with understanding, and grinned secretly when she didn't.

Kess set the tool aside with a joke, "What, are we labeling our stuff now?" Such was the most common use for the thing.

Luke didn't answer, else he risked revealing more than he should, but his mind drifted when he returned to his own work. His own thoughts whispered at him from the back of his mind. _What are you waiting for?_

He didn't know. There was something in the way, but he didn't know what it was. Perhaps more of this 'resource organizing'—this 'unraveling of stress' they were now tackling together—perhaps that was all that was undone, and he hoped that was true, but the something on Force told him strongly that he needed to wait a little longer before he pulled that finished locket out of his boot sock.

His open senses detected her tension harden as she dug through that box. It was just some random stuff from her barracks, but the objects were probably reminders. The loss of so many friends was still so fresh. And Luke refused to use a marriage proposal simply as a means to cheer her up.

Luke eyed her in secret as her hand moved slower in the box. Her smile faded, staring breathless. Her fingers lifted out a custom-shaped oil valve gasket, one that was big enough for a Y-wing.

Tears emerged in her eyes. Brown eyes looked around the room, looked around at all their stuff, looked out the window at the foreign city beyond, and dropped her eyes back down to fidget with that gasket. Her eyebrows angled to stare at it.

Slowly, Luke rose to his feet and turned off the music as he stepped quietly over. He put himself in front of her, leaned his back against the crates, and he waited.

Eventually, Kess looked up to his eyes.

"What?" He asked tenderly.

She looked away at the mess and came back with a squint. "Did we . . . 'decide' something?" She looked around the apartment again. "Maybe I don't remember the conversation."

His murmur was gentle. "What are you talking about?"

She motioned to all the crates, the half-unpacked mess of His Stuff and Her Stuff mixed together, like it was one big household already. "We never talked about living together."

Luke rubbed his lips closed and looked at the floor.

Her voice was more confused than it was accusing. "I keep forgetting how long we've been here. So much has happened. It feels like we've been here for months already but—

"But it's only been a few weeks," he murmured, angling his head and blinking sadly at the air. Was he already getting her answer? Before he even asked? He remembered the last words Han said ever to him. " _You have to get through this in one piece, because you have a more important mission after it."_

And it was the toughest, longest, most important mission of them all.

Luke inhaled hard through his nose and realized he was falling down on the job. He lifted his eyes only to gaze out the window. The gold orange sunshine lit up the glassy exterior of the building next door. It was quiet in the apartment but the Force still ticked and hummed and throbbed from so many people on this planet.

Kess sensed his mood shift and assured, "Luke, I'm not saying I don't want to. I'm just saying we never talked about it. And it's already happening as if the decision was made without me."

He murmured dejectedly. "I didn't make any decisions, Kess. This all just . . . fell into our laps." He found her eyes with a sad sigh. "You and I have been a team a lot longer than we've been dating. We just fell into the habit of that teamwork. That's all."

"I know. And I like that about us but—" she looked around the room again and saw it all. "But it seems like the teamwork is all we are anymore." She cringed to point it out. "You haven't even kissed me since we left Yavin."

He flashed a smiling whine, "Well, you haven't kissed me either!"

She flashed a shy smile and nodded.

"We've been busy," he said again. "It's been an intense couple of weeks."

"I know. I know." She closed her eyes and tried to sigh away this discomfort. Somehow, what little strength and independence she had to talk about this stuff with him had atrophied again. "I'm not saying I don't want— I'm not asking for a big 'relationship discussion' or anything."

"Mm no." He nodded at the floor and grinned over at her with honesty. "No, I think that's exactly what you're asking for."

Kess flushed and hugged herself. "I'm sorry." Humbled, disciplined, she pulled herself together and returned to work. She turned away for a different box—

His fingers snagged her wrist to keep her from moving away. Kess glanced back as he gently pulled her to him.

Luke wrapped his arms around her sides and made her rest against him so he could look her in the eyes. He nudged his mouth over, as if to make sure he had permission before he kissed her. It was tender and timid, and slow, and sweet, the way their kisses used to be when they were still learning how to kiss each other. It ended with their lips still hovering with the dreamy intoxication of it.

Her eyes were still closed, stunned, paused as if waiting for him to come back.

Luke grinned at her expression, and he whispered. "So ask me."

She blinked her eyes open. "Ask you what?"

"Ask me for what you want."

Her eyes flashed open but she smiled bashfully and tried to sigh it away with, "Well. W-what do _you_ want?"

He grinned cutely. "I asked you first."

She flushed, more so on the Force than in her face. She was too embarrassed to think about it consciously, and she was terrified to admit it out loud. Instead, she fed him a line that was mostly—but not entirely—bullshit. "I don't know. I guess you're right. We really haven't had the chance to think about any of this." Her eyes gazed over the apartment and the boxes, as if comparing _this_ against her dreams and imaginings.

But her expression began to sour again. _This_ didn't match her dreams.

Luke angled his head. "So let's think about it."

Big eyes opened on him.

He mouthed the invitation almost voicelessly. "What do you want?"

Kess stared at him but her fingers still fidgeted with the gasket. Her face somehow managed to change from a strong, wise Jedi woman and crumble quickly to a six-year-old girl who burst into tears. "I wanna go _home!_ "

Kess dove her face in his shoulder and cried.

Luke held her closer. He wasn't expecting that at all. But the explanation came next, squeaking out of a tiny voice and soft blithering sobs. "I want my squeaky bed. And Joanne eating everything in the kitchen. And Kayla showing up just in time for dinner. And—

Luke constricted around her and held her even closer to let her wail. Now he knew he was right—they were not yet healed enough to have the clarity of mind for this kind of discussion yet.

Three weeks ago, their whole world had changed in an instant. One day, they were a secret and the next day they were the news. One day, they were in green humidity, and the next day they were in cold steel. From peace of Yavin to the madness of Coruscant. Surrounded by friends and family they'd loved for years and now half of those loved ones were _missing_. . . as if they had just lost them in the move.

She whimpered into his collarbone, "I want to get my hands dirty in the guts of an engine and to know it's yours so I take better care of it even when I try to decide not to because I'm trying to be mad at you about something."

Luke rested his mouth against her temple and smiled sadly.

"I want to go to the clearing in the middle of the day and—

She stopped talking, but she stopped crying too. She sniffed in his shoulder and began to stiffen.

Luke grinned more against her temple and whispered the end of her sentence for her. "Make love in the grass."

Her trapped breath escaped with a shudder. Her face curled deeper into his neck and held him tighter. "We never did that."

"But we should've."

He could feel her body press tighter against him as she thought about it, and he too tried to imagine it again. He had so many different fantasies about the two of them in that clearing that he couldn't hope to remember them all now. She began to calm as she remembered her secret thoughts of the same.

"It's still there, you know," he pointed out.

She pulled back only to look up. "What is?"

"The clearing." He smiled softly down. "It's still there. Maybe, when we get the chance, we can run back to Yavin 4 for a week and camp out or something. Take a _real_ vacation."

Kess grinned at the idea, but the first thing that popped into her mind was her first day in Rogue Group. Luke and Wedge came in from the muster room, arguing about something about how Luke's vacations were never actually vacations. And Wedge peeped up with, " _Is this quiz going to count against my grade?"_ Her secondary crush on Wedge started in that moment, shadowed only by the enormous crush she already had on Luke. She had so many memories in that managers' office, arguing at each other from different desks because they couldn't fuck each other yet, both trying to ignore the eye-rolls of Neilson and Ashten and Teak. . . and after knock-off, trying to dismiss the suggestive comments from Kayla and Joanne, Han and Lando. . . .

New tears sprouted, but she looked up with a humble grin. "You're right."

"About what?"

"We can't really talk about the future until were done holding onto the past."

"Yes and no," he said, considering it. "There's a lot about our past I don't want to forget. But maybe we just need to heal a little more, from all these changes." He looked around the apartment and the clutter within it. It looked like two lives trying to force themselves together too fast only create a deformed monster. He gestured at it. "This is _not_ what I wanted for us." He shook his head at her. "This is not what I had in mind."

Her eyes gave her away. She tried to look innocent, and her voice grew tiny to try to speak with even more innocence. She was fishing for something she was too timid to mention. "What did you have in mind?"

Luke saw right through her ploy and had to force himself not to think about the locket or else she would detect his thoughts. His eyes smiled wistfully at her. _Not yet_.

She opened her mouth with a laughing groan. "Oh, you haven't given me one of those looks in a long time either."

"Like I said, we've been busy. It's been a tough couple of weeks." He sucked at his lips and added. "But maybe, now that things are settling down, maybe we can get back on track." He looked out over the apartment, "And in the mean time, let's treat this as nothing more than a temporary post."

Kess looked over the room again too, and began to see it in a new light, to see Coruscant and the Senate work in a new light. "Yeah. Okay. I can handle that."

With this teamwork agreement, they shared subdued smiles.

Kess whispered it first. "I love you."

And Luke didn't hesitate to whisper it back. "I love you."

That was it, exactly; that was her secret weapon against the stress.

His hands firmed his grip on her hips and pulled her back in for another kiss, but this time, his fingers snaked under the trim of her tank top and sneaked to touch the skin of her stomach.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself in to kiss him deeper. The move made it easy for him to wrap his arms hard around her waist. He practically picked her up from the floor as he continued to kiss her, as if using this tactic to mask the truth that he was already walking her backwards towards the bedroom.


	52. LL5 51 Karmatic Returns

Revived by a lazy day of solitude, and sex, and staring into each other's eyes, and regaling teary-smiled memories about lost friends, and fighting over who would get the best dresser drawers. . . Luke and Kess returned to the Federal Complex refreshed and ready to get down to business.

Their first stop was to visit the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee about that rumored office in which to base their work at the Capital. The answer was 'yes'. Requests of donations were all well and good, but as long as they didn't demand compensation for their services, the Jedi did not have to pay rent on the space.

The small office complex was conveniently located right on the lobby floor, only a dozen steps away from an entrance to the Senate chambers. It had a utility room with a lav, four little offices, a decent-sized conference room, and a lobby big enough to dud-saber duel if they wanted. Compared to the grand operations of Senators and System Royalty, this beige little collection of rooms was tiny and simple, as if it were once some lack-luster support division in earlier times. Luke noted with a smile that it was perfect because the Jedi intended to be exactly that: a lack-luster support division.

They spent the next few hours rearranging the leftover furniture, figuring out how to connect the comm terminal, and scrounging for office supplies abandoned in drawers. They shoved one empty desk up toward the entrance on the idea that someday an assistant my occupy it, and, as if on cue, Raól showed up.

He had just met with the Chamberlain, he announced, and brought with him a great deal of correspondence and data regarding the Jedi Senate Office and its functions. They ushered him to the meeting table in the otherwise naked conference room to put down all the datafolios, at which Kess queried that his donated time by the Ansion government had already expired.

Raól put down his stuff and sat down with a pert nod. "In all honesty, I'm taking sick time so I can assist you today."

Luke was glad for the help and promised to reimburse the man for the lost sick pay, to which Raól crossed his legs at the knee and nodded with a patient smile. "Yes, well, we'll get to that later."

Kess was secretly ready to hire the man on the spot, but Luke's clear reservation was that they probably couldn't afford a salary for anyone just yet. That aside, they already trusted him, and were glad to explain what they had organized so far and what they were still figuring out how to do. Raól's depth of experience in the Federal Complex had him producing fast answers about who to contact for what and how to get things done. Luke and Kess pushed forward with new delight and used whatever help this skilled political assistant was willing to offer.

They had Artoo haul over all the data cards from the apartment that were full of notes and task lists, and they had Eye-D send over all the messages from that comm terminal to this one so they could start working on agenda. Together, the three of them sorted out the entire workload into three categories: Academy, Politics, and General Function. From there, they began a master task list for each project.

And the list was extensive: An assistant or protocol droid to serve in the office full time as a primary contact point. Mediation agenda. Research materials for the mediations. Permanent residence on Coruscant. Living expenses. Transportation off planet. Static channel the public could reference on what resource donations they needed. Jedi Records to be sorted out and uploaded to the database. _New_ Jedi Records now that they might get more of that from the Imperial side of things. Surveyors and archeologists to map out what was left of the Jedi Temple. How do we find new students? How do we train them without a clearing? Or a grinder? How are we going to find a real location for the Academy?

And all of these answers required money.

Luke and Kess sat side by side at that meeting table and struggled against the temptation to ask how many credits were in the account.

They pushed forward on the premise of pretending there was no money in there. They would prioritize all these thousand things that needed to happen right away and start from the top. Donations were key. And the key to donations was to get started on mediation services as soon as possible. So they set forth on sorting out the many requests and started putting together their own agenda. Several of these projects required travel to various parts of the galaxy to visit systems first hand, so they asked Raól for sources of a cheap transport they could buy.

Raól declined. "You already have one."

Luke and Kess shared a glance. Both squinted at him. "We do?"

Raól stood up from his seat and shuffled through his many datapads to find one specific, then walked it over to place it on the table between their elbows. He covered the screen with his hand until they agreed to see it. "I understand why you don't want to know what's in the account, but perhaps you would like to know the list of supply donations already waiting to be of use?"

Luke agreed to that, and met eyes with Kess who also agreed to that. Supplies already on hand meant they wouldn't have to buy them. Best to make use of everything in the virtual stockroom before they went shopping.

Heads angled together over the datareader. Eyes popped wide.

A thumb paged down . . . and paged down again. . . .

That the used transport ship was 'magically' donated without them ever asking for it smelled of behind-closed-doors-rebel-politics, but neither of them mentioned that suspicion aloud. The transport wasn't the only significant item, but most of list was of various small supplies. Things like service droids, data readers, desks, food stocks, dorm furnishings, utility belts, meditation zufas, monk tunics, simple robes, sandcubes, lightsaber parts. . . .

Luke sat up with a boyish grin and rubbed his palms together like an evil genius.

Kess grinned at Raól to explain the man's reaction. "Now all we need is a location and some students."

With new energy, they started sorting it all out, prioritizing the work, scheduling the most urgent mediations, starting a 'wish list' the public could reference in order to donate specific supplies instead of money. Yet gathering all this 'stuff' created a new chore of figuring out where to store it all until they had a permanent place to put it. They decided to cram it all in the empty offices in the back here, and in the empty bedrooms in the apartment at home. That wasn't enough space, clearly, but the space was free. And they started tossing around the idea of laying claim and utilizing the Jedi Temple ruins to store the rest of it.

Explore it? _Sure_. Visit it frequently? _Not so much_. It was a 'ruin' after all, and so deep under the living world of the planet it felt like a tomb down there. But they agreed it may work as an option until they figured out a location for the Academy.

Again, Luke reviewed their Catch .22 as if still trying to find a way out of the loop. The Academy was key to getting help, and getting help was crucial to getting all this up and running. To which Kess noted that the mediations were key for bringing in donations, which would in turn make the Academy possible. But they needed the help before they could really get going on the mediations.

Luke buried his face in his palms and cringed with frustrated laughter, and Kess grinned across the table at Raól to ask (almost) as a joke. "Want a job?"

"Wait a second!" Luke spat with a smile then eyed Raól apologetically. "We can't afford anyone yet."

Raól returned a grinning but curious squint. "Forgive my ignorance, but if you haven't seen the balance of the account, what makes you so convinced you can't afford to hire anyone?"

"Because we haven't _done_ anything yet?" Kess said with a laugh. And Luke nodded with deep shrugging agreement of this point.

Raól lifted a hand and squinted harder, trying to gesture but hesitant to do so. "Erm, beg your pardon. Can I just— Can I say something beyond my position here?"

Both looked at him, shrugged, and nodded. "Of course."

Raól smiled at them like the couple was crazy. "'Haven't _done_ anything yet'?" He spread a palm at the giant Senate building outside, where a new galactic government was currently _not_ shooting at each other for the first time in thirty years. _"'Haven't done anything yet?!'"_

Kess flushed at the table. Luke angled a single-shoulder shrug and tried to figure out how to respond to that—

Raól continued, lecturing them with deep respect and a little dismay. "You gave us _everything_ without asking for anything in return. The help is pouring in because _now_ they have a way to show their gratitude for what you've already done. And they want you to keep doing it. So use what they've given you," and he laughed to stress it, "and for pity's sake, quit worrying about how much you may or may not have in the account!"

It was clear now that Raól knew what was in the account. Kess lifted an eyebrow and asked because she knew Luke wouldn't. "Do we have enough to hire you?"

This, it turned out, was why Raól was here. The man drew in a breath of poise and explained, "I took a sick day to help you because I promised my mother I would. She once served as a civilian Senate attaché to the old Jedi Order. For the first decade of my life, I was surrounded by Jedi, and my mother, who is now retired, is deliriously happy to see your return to the galactic stage."

He continued to explain that, upon Mon Mothma's long-awaited return to the capital, Raól sought out the Alliance leader about re-creating that political post. Mon Mothma, in turn, sent him to meet with the new Chamberlain and Jedi-in-Training with his credentials and resumé in hand. Chamberlain Solo, in turn, loaded him up with every scrap of notes and correspondence she had about the new Jedi Order and sent him on his way with her blessing.

Kess smiled, "So you came here hoping for an interview."

"I came to prove my worth," he corrected politely and gestured at all the work they'd done so far, "in hopes that it might _earn_ an interview."

Luke rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and cocked an eyebrow at the man, "Well . . . then . . . I think you need to go _back_ to Chamberlain Solo as soon as possible and deliver my request that she negotiate a reasonable salary with you."

Raól smiled from ear to ear, got up from his chair, bowed at them both, and left on his first mission as an official Jedi aide. "I'll return first thing in the morning."

As soon as the man was gone, Luke slumped back in the meeting chair and sighed out a wistful smile. "Man, it's nice to have a productive day again, huh?"

Kess stood and finished sorting out the last of the stacks so she could figure it all out again tomorrow. "Yeah, we actually accomplished something this time."

While she was bright and easy about it, Luke still detected an emotional tether holding her back from full glee. _She still needs time to heal_ , he recognized, but already he was thinking about steeling her away to Yavin, for there was no better place to propose than the clearing.

"Guess now we know what Leia was talking about," she commented as she packed up to go home for the day. "But it feels like we're doing the 'reaping' when it was the old Jedi order did all the 'sewing'."

"Well, we'll just have to earn it ourselves," he said lightly, just to say something on topic. Clearly, Kess hadn't detected what Leia was really talking about, but now Luke wondered mildly if he had detected it correctly himself. No matter. Kess still had no idea there was a wedding locket hiding in his boot.

 _"Well," Han thumbed over his shoulder, "you see how absorbed she is right now. If she wasn't, she'd know about it before I even thought it up."_

Luke slowly got up from the table to follow her out. He watched her as she turned off the lights and squinted at the temperature controls. He watched the way she moved not too quickly, and smiled not too much. She was feeling happy for him more than she was happy about all this progress. The Academy was _his_ pet project after all. The mediations and Jedi Senate Office stuff was only a means to an end for them both.

Luke considered it that Kess might need a pet project of her own, something with which she could have complete authority, something to sink her teeth into to help with the healing. He secretly wondered if that donated transport might need repair and thought of sending her off on a shopping spree for tools so she could get filthy in her flight suit again. Maybe he could get Yana over for a few days—during which he could make himself scarce—so they could have some 'girly girl' time together. Whatever the solution, at least now he had some ideas on how to solve this last elusive 'undone' thing that was still blocking his path.

Gladly leaving all the bureaucracy work at 'work' this time, they stepped to the coliseum lobby and paused to figure out how to lock up the new Jedi Office.

But their shoulders stiffened to find their exit was blocked by now-President Tesseoni of Tyrona _and_ Her Holiness Ro'Salia of At'Bintar, both accompanied by a dozen aides. Both sides closed in on the Jedi like they were about to launch unreasonable demands on the other and expected Jedi backup for their half of the mess.

Luke put his palms up with apologies. "I beg your forgiveness, madams, but we are closed for the day."

"No you're not," President Tesseoni stated firmly.

"No," Ro'Salia said sharply. "This is urgent."

Both women stepped around the Jedi to help themselves into the office behind them.

Kess shifted to watch at their audacity as the two leaders and a dozen assistants filtered around their bodies as though they weren't even standing there. Luke rubbed the corner of his eye with a fingertip. He just wanted to go home and have sex, and he only realized that desire now that he couldn't. Once they were all gone inside and waiting for the Jedi to come in too, Kess lifted her palms and spoke gently at Luke, "Let's just hear what they want and we'll put it on the agenda."

Luke nodded, inhaled for strength and patience, and both returned to work.

Lights. Temperature. More chairs for everyone. The conference table was still a mess with stacks of datacards and folios, but the two leaders didn't seem to care about that. Ro'Salia and Tesseoni took seats far away from each other at the round table, but not entirely across from each other like it was going to be some kind of debate. Their assistants stood along the wall in the form of a dais behind them. Luke and Kess wearily returned to their same side-by-side seats that were still warm from already being in them all day. They gave their guests as much patience and respect as appropriate for this unscheduled late hour.

"What can we do for you?"

With chin up and eyes icily stuck to the table, Ro'Salia said nothing.

Tesseoni began without checking with the other if she should. "As you know, Tyrona and At'Bintar are currently in disagreement about the religious rights of the holy moon of Iktri."

Luke nodded and sat back in his chair. "I know well of the conflict, but I am less educated in the details of the case. Something about 'evidence in scripture'? Would you like us to add it to our mediation agenda?"

"We have one now," Kess piped.

Ro'Salia blinked up. "You have one what?"

"An agenda." Kess gestured at the mess on the table before them. "As you can see, we're still trying to get our office together to serve in that capacity, but we're working on it." She offered respectfully, "We're happy to put you on the schedule."

Ro'Salia blinked again and exchanged a strange glance with Tesseoni. Tesseoni seemed less pleased with the eye contact and dismissed all this with a tiny rattle of her head.

Luke pointed out, "We can't mediate what we haven't yet studied enough to understand."

Tesseoni dismissed that too and gestured to an assistant, who brought over a data reader to hand to the Jedi.

Luke and Kess leaned elbows on their respective armrests to squint over the data reader together.

"Chamberlain Solo was kind enough to take time out of her very busy schedule to propose a solution for Iktri—

"A solution," Ro'Salia noted in dark warning, "that we have already tried, with _very_ little success."

Tesseoni paused to keep her temper. " _However_ , Chancellor Solo introduced a possible element that we hadn't yet considered."

Ro'Salia finished for her. "We've come to hear your opinion on the matter."

Luke glanced up and looked down again. He and Kess read the laundry list together.

 **No mining. No logging. No fishing. No heavy subspace communication. No heavy off world transportation. No military presence of any kind. No off-world commerce. No planetary shield. All utilities must be based on renewable energy. Prior to the start of construction, all structures must be approved by both hemispheric governments.**

'Hemispheric governments', Luke noticed. They were going to share Iktri by slicing the moon in half.

 **There will be no advertising of symbols of any kind. No buildings, structures, tools, or supplies may be labeled with the names, titles, or symbols of system or persons that donated said objects. Monthly surveys of both hemispheres are required without fail. Survey reports must be delivered in person to both hemispheric representatives on a timely basis. Any concerns of either party will be addressed immediately by neutral mediation on the host reservation. . . .**

Luke's brows knitted, "What are we looking at here?"

Kess had already read ahead and pointed at the text with a growing grin.

 **The reservation site must be approved by both hemispheric representatives. The reservation site must be free of any previous settlement or archeology. The reservation site must be on the prime or anti-meridian border between At'Bintarian and Tyronan territories. The reservation site will be twenty kilometers in area with no room for expansion. The layout and operation of the reservation site will be entirely at the discretion of the Jedi Order. . . .**

Kess propped her elbow on the table and hid her smiling mouth in a backwards palm. Luke suddenly arched his back and scratched the bridge of his nose as if to hide his cringing grin of hope.

 **This agreement may be cancelled without notice if both Tyronan and At'Bintarian governments are in agreement of the cancellation, at which time all abandoned structures and supplies will be thenceforth the possession of At'Bintar and Tyrona, to be divided at a later date. It is preferred that the Jedi Order avoid interference with the religious practices of both Tyronan and At'Bintarian settlements, however, it is** ** _required_** **that the Jedi Order** ** _immediately_** **interfere with either community in case of breach in the communal agreement of land use, expansion, and/or manifest destiny.**

Kess licked her lips to rub them closed and tried not to snicker at the fireworks going on inside Luke's Force Print right now. But he put up a good front. Luke lifted his eyes from the data reader only to give the dueling women a curious squint.

Tesseoni added, "This, of course, is temporary. Scientific study suggests the moon has little time left to support life without shields or biome containment."

Ro'Salia countered with a wry smile, "And yet, the Force of God has blessed the holy ground with long life. Iktri still shines as a veritable paradise regardless of 'science'."

Luke bowed his chin at Ro'Salia, "Fair enough, but enlighten me anyway. How much time does the moon have left?"

Tesseoni reported with a shrug, "Five hundred standard years, maybe. Perhaps as long as a thousand."

Luke pursed his lips, but his eyes sparkled like blue diamonds. His voice was calm and respectful, but the grin on his mouth was not to be contained. His finger tapped on the data reader in front of them, but he couldn't quite formulate the words, "A-and this is . . . ?"

Ro'Salia spread a regal hand. "Simply put, Master Jedi, we have agreed to share the moon equally between us, _as we have tried before_ but—

"We need a babysitter," Tesseoni blurted wryly. Ro'Salia flattened her mouth with ire at being interrupted, but Tesseoni continued anyway. "We are offering you a small reservation for your 'Academy' in return for keeping an neutral and non-military eye on both of us."

Ro'Salia continued it further. "And to help make peace and secure against illegal expansion when _someone_ steps out of line."

"We understand the restrictions may be quite limiting," Tesseoni said respectfully. "We might be able to negotiate changes on the function and procedure of it, but—

Ro'Salia interrupted this time. "But Iktri _is_ a holy ground and the treatment of the planet as a deity is non-negotiable."

Luke shrugged both hands, looking for something on the list that he couldn't live with, and found it hard to believe he couldn't find any. "I have no problems with these restrictions." As if expecting for the other shoe to drop, Luke shyly scratched the side of his neck, afraid to ask. "And um . . . how soon do propose this plan to begin?"

Ro'Salia blinked at him. "We have thousands of elderly citizens eager for pilgrimage before they pass—

Tesseoni interrupted her again. "Part of our agreement with _each other_ is that neither of us begin our own settlements before _your_ hemispheric surveys are underway."

"As soon as possible," Ro'Salia urged.

Luke looked down at the list with widening eyes, but his heart was beginning to pound so hard he couldn't focus to read it.

Kess sat back in her chair with a happy grin aimed out at the two women, but her fingers sneakily dragged a signature stick from the tabletop and flipped it over in her fingers to hover in front of his face. Luke snatched it out of the air and curled over to scribble his approval, then shoved both stick and datareader in front of Kess to do the same.

"Yes." Luke nodded fervently and his smile grew big. "Yes."

They escorted Ro'Salia and Tesseoni to the exit with a hundred bows and handshakes, promising quick contact and secured communication for now they had an assistant too. The two women split away from each other once they were in the coliseum lobby, each trailed by their own staff. As soon as they were gone, Luke slammed the door shut for one last moment of privacy so he could wrap his arms around Kess with a happy laugh of delight.

She flew them home because Luke was bouncing off the walls of the speeder as if he'd just won the lottery. He wanted to celebrate at Teedee Q's but Kess gently declined because it was 2100 already. She was exhausted from the stress and excitement of this day and wanted to meditate, but she didn't tell him that. Like a teenager, Luke jumped and skipped and squealed ideas and plans and hopes and Maybe This and Maybe That and Maybe Your Brother and Maybe My Nephew or Niece . . . all the way into the apartment while Kess dragged her feet behind him. But she smiled wisely at his glee and enjoyed _him_ enjoying the moment.

Standing in the living room and throwing down their cloaks to a chair, Luke cupped her face in his hands for a long, happy smooch. "I'm going to make love to you until the sun comes up," he declared.

She sniggered to correct him, "You're going to make love to me until I fall asleep."

Luke couldn't stop smiling, and his cheeks were beginning to hurt from it, but he understood humbly and took her waist with a nod. She was happy, he could tell, but she wasn't as happy as he was.

"Iktri's only a two hour jump from here," he offered. "And we have a transport now."

Kess nodded benevolently. "Go check it out."

"Don't you want to see it too?"

"Well, yeah, of course I do, but we just scheduled a dozen mediations, and we need to get Raól started in the office tomorrow . . . ." Now, it was Kess focused on work and Luke eager to go play, but she assured softly, "You go check it out. Pick us a good spot. And show me later."

Luke didn't like this, but he couldn't deny himself this chance. "But block out the next free day so you can come see it too."

"I will," she assured again, still grinning up at his boyish energy.

Luke again detected that emotional tether in her soul, that still palpable sadness, but she supported him anyway. In everything. All the time. Appreciative to the deepest possible level, his thoughts turned back to the task of figuring out how he could help make her dreams come true too.

And he realized he had power over only one.

Kess kissed him on the cheek, proud of him, happy to serve so he could enjoy this moment, and turned away to go cook dinner.

Luke's eyes watched her go and, smiling more, he set his foot on a dining chair. He reached for his boot sock—

The door chime beeped.

Eye-D answered the door and they could hear the conversation going on in the foyer. Someone asked to talk to the 'Jedi people', someone very young, complete with an adolescent, begging, ' _pleeaassee_?'

Luke and Kess eyed each other and began to move to cross the great room together, but they stopped short when the little person pushed passed the big droid and skidded to a stop in the archway. Eye-D apologized for not controlling the situation and Luke shut him up with a gesture.

The girl was maybe eleven or twelve, not yet hitting puberty, dressed like a member of a street gang, and had a chipped canine tooth in her smile. Her species wasn't obvious because of the punk clothes and hairstyle. She was dark-skinned with deep green hair, and a pair of eyes that looked like pale diamonds in the rich color of her young face.

"Are you Mister Jedi, sir?"

Luke blinked back and angled his head with a grinning guard. "Yes."

"I um, my mom's boss says I should come talk at you." Her eyes shifted from Luke to Kess and back, suddenly nervous to realize whom she was facing.

"Why?"

"Er," she smiled with sweet embarrassment. "This is going to sound nuts, but I hear a voice in my head. And my mom's boss says I should come see yous about it."

Kess spoke carefully, "Explain."

"I don't hear the voice most times. It don't get in the way of schoolwork or chores or nothing. Mostly I only hear it when I close my eyes, and be all quiet, like this," she closed her eyes and paused in a deliberate silence.

Luke started—

And she popped her eyes back open with new energy, "When I do that, sometimes I can hear him talking to me. I been hearing it all my life. Since I was a _kid_."

Humored, Kess's brows knitted at this kid. "What does the voice sound like?"

"It's a man," she said. "A _nice_ man," she insisted to note. "But it's a man. He never telled me his name. He telled me things like to calm down and stuff. He telled me nice things. And I _like_ it. I didn't wanna do nothin' 'bout it. But my mom's boss says I should come anyways."

Luke shifted his feet and met Kess's eyes with a devious glance as he turned, but his voice was particularly bright. "Come sit down."

The two adults relaxed on one couch while the girl sat gingerly on the other, guarded to keep her manners in this pretty place.

Luke began the kind questions. "You said your mom's _boss_ told you to come. Does your _mom_ know you're here?"

"Yeah, she don't care. Well, she does. But only cuz she says I gonna make more bank doing that than this. She don't tell me what this is tho. But my mom's boss says this be better for me than doing that. She gave me the address cuz you says you'd help us cases we ever needs it."

Luke's mouth parted. His eyes shifted over to Kess, who glanced back with new understanding.

"But I says I don't need no help. Peoples think I'm crazy for it." She insisted this part at them, "I don't wanna make the voice go away. I whaddn't gonna come. I like it when the man talks to me."

"So why'd you come?"

The girl considered whether she should answer this part or not. "Well, the voice says I should prolly talks to you bouts it too."

Kess grinned warm. "Do you do everything he says?"

"No." The girl shook her head. "No, course not." Then she smiled to admit it. "But most times I don't, I fingered it out later that I shoulda."

Smug with that, Luke turned his chin and looked directly at Kess, rubbing it in with a big smile.

Kess shifted on the couch to squint at this girl . . . this girl and Yana's eyes, and Joanne's complexion, and Ashten's hair. . . . "What's your name?"

"Tayla."

Kess closed her eyes with a reddening face.

Luke clopped his palms over his head and shook them strong in the air with gritting smile of victory.

Tayla's green brows lifted into her brown forehead. Big diamond eyes shifted back and forth at this weird reaction. "Whad I do?"

Kess gestured for Tayla to disregard Luke's reaction and explained, "He's just thanking the nice man in your head."

"You believes me?"

"Yep." Kess lounged back against the couch. "Y'know why?"

"Why?"

"We hear them too."

Tayla's mouth hung open in comic pre-teen shock.

Luke added, "And we have no intentions to make him shut up."

"Super cool!"

Luke snuck a grinning eye over at Kess, but Kess didn't look back for his opinion, or his permission. Instead, she hopped off the couch with a decision of her own volition and walked over to the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, kinda." Big eyes watched the woman go.

"Come over here. Help me cook something. I'm starving." Kess said from the other room.

Uncertain, the girl's eyes shifted back to the man still on the couch, unsure what she should do.

Luke thumbed over with a secret, "It's actually her you needed to see."

Tayla accepted this permission and stood from the couch. Her feet stepped timidly into the kitchen where Kess told her to sit down at the little table inside. "So tell me about stuff. . . ."

And Jedi Training began.

 _This. . . ._

Luke listened to the 'girl chat' in the other room and sensed out Kess's mood. He could hear it in her voice. Her emotional energy amplified anew. And he _knew_ it, he knew it in the depths of his soul, he knew he was right to wait. _Not Yet_ had finally pinnacled to _Now_.

 _This_ is what he was waiting for.

With a smile stretching from ear to ear, Luke closed his eyes, reached out as far as his mind would go, and whispered it into the void.

 _Thank you._


	53. LL5 52 The Locket

Somewhere halfway up the prime meridian of Iktri, a small, used transport landed in the middle of a green grassy valley, and two Jedi stepped out.

Kess walked out into the field and looked around in smiling awe. Luke strolled slowly behind. The sky was a flawless blue. Distant mountains reached up in majestic purple, capped with white peaks. Forests of pine spilled down the slopes only to a stop cold at this wide swath of natural meadow. The wildflowers and green grass waved in the breeze up to their knees. It was surreal.

Soon, Luke stepped up behind her and reached one arm around the front of her shoulders. His other hand pointed out, aligned so both eyes could identify the landmarks. "Twenty kliks, in sort of an oval shape, so, from the base of that mountain there." He turned his arm and pointing finger slowly around in a circle. "Halfway up that slope, to about that hill there, that slope, including the peak, and—"

His arm and finger continued the circle almost to the beginning, where the field and little stream disappeared over a distant drop off.

And his heart began to pound.

"About a klik out over the ocean."

Her brows lifted. Her face splashed with glee. "Ocean?"

Giddy, she grabbed his hand out of the air and yanked along wide grassy valley to go see it.

Kess tugged him like a little kid. Luke smiled at it too, but he was oddly quiet. They settled into an easy hike along the gentle field, side by side, holding hands as they walked. They talked about the constructions donated so far. At'Bintar was going to build them a meditation temple. Tyrona offered a library. Cagharten arranged family-sized dormitories. Kein suggested a small landing hub. Helmba opted to donate a galley and dining hall. This first wave of construction promises was organized by King Padel of Flan to symbolize the new unity of the Serra Six and to honor the memory of his son, Prince Petra.

Their feet stopped atop a short cliff. The shore was only about twenty meters down but the turquoise ocean crashed onto a long spit of white sand. Kess absorbed the view. To have a beach right next to the Academy seemed fitting. This little beach wasn't long enough for Luke's crazy runs at oh-dark-hundred in the morning, but that was okay, the symbolism was complete.

The shore curved gently in from the south and tightened as it curled around—almost to the shape of a cape—at a short outcropping of rocky cliff to the north. The south side was lower and tapered down to meet the shore kilometers away, but boulders littered that part of the angled cliff. Kess pointed out at a spot. "Looks like we can climb down over there."

And she was gone.

Luke's heart thudded in his chest. His feet stepped to follow.

It was a little difficult getting down but Kess managed it bravely. As soon as she was safely on the beach, she turned to the crashing waves and spread her arms. "This is _awesome_!"

Luke strolled in the sand behind her and watched. He lowered his chin to his chest and found his peace.

She came around and landed against him, giving him a big, rocking hug. "This just seems too good to be true."

He looked out over the ocean and nodded. He sighed slow and shaky but he didn't speak. His eyes looked down into hers. He looked terrified.

She cocked her head. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." He pulled away and took her hand again, holding her near him so they could stroll down the beach together.

"I know what you're thinking," she said sneaky.

"Oh, you do, huh?"

"You're thinking the long story is over. But I think it's just getting started."

"Is that so?" A grin spread across his face but he watched his boots walking through the sand. "And why do you say that?"

"Because now you get to do all those things you've been waiting for the chance to do." She said this distantly as she looked over the ocean, and the beach, and the vertical cliff stretching along the shore, up where they were standing a minute ago. "Now you get to build. And that's going to be the longest story of them all."

She glanced over. And he glanced back. His Force Print shuddered with trepidation.

Kess squinted sideways at him, urging with concern now. "What's the matter?"

Luke quickly shifted his eyes. Before she could talk again, he used their holding hands as a leash to turn her around. He made her face away from him and stepped up to her back to point at something new. But he didn't aim her to face the shore or the sea. He murmured as he settled behind her, rummaging through a breast pocket. "King Padel offered to build something too. So I thought, maybe. . . ."

His free hand came around with a transparent photo cap. It was the promotional photo of a building, made up of five, wide, white cylinders, offset from each other, some reaching high and some reaching low, each holding several levels of rooms. The drawing cut out sections of the windowed walls to display the suggested interior: elevator, study, living suite, bedrooms, a kitchen . . . .

Kess's eyes dilated.

And the whole transparent photo hovered in front of a spot against this beach cliff.

Her breath left her lungs. Now, her heart thudded in her chest too. "Are you serious?"

She tried to turn around to look at him. At first, his firm arm tried to stop her, but his strength crumbled and she turned anyway. The poor boy stood there as if he was in trouble. His shoulders cocked with shyness as his fist hid timidly in his pocket.

Kess smiled at him with loving assurance in her eyes. "It's a wonderful surprise."

Luke swallowed hard. He sighed harder. He nodded distantly. He muttered. "That wasn't the surprise."

She blinked.

Now he was more nervous than before. His hand dug in his pocket. He stared at her like a deer in headlights when his fist came out to hover in front of him.

He stopped it there . . . he looked at his own fist.

Kess stepped closer. All she could see was a dangling black string. She used both hands to guide his fingers open.

A twin locket rested in his palm. Two, flat, thumb-print sized pieces of bone fused together, decorated with the darker carvings of curly cues and zigzags.

She didn't need an explanation, but her eyes glanced up to find him struggling for one anyway.

"So um," Luke's voice trembled as he murmured, "It was a bit of, um, a group thing. I got one half, and Han and Leia got the other. I guess they thought I didn't know how to get one. And um," hard swallow, "Kayla fused them together for me."

A tear splashed out of her eye with a smile and a breath.

"Ashten found me a chinkle tool to um, start the carvings on the trip over. And the other day, Wedge and Yana helped me pick out the cable for it. It's, uh, it's Socorro silk twine. Turns out Lando and Joanne were from the same system."

She looked to him with a new smile of surprise. "How long have you been working on this?"

Luke shoulders shifted shyly but he smiled to admit it. "I picked up the first one on my trip to see Ambassador Danje."

Her eyes fell back to the locket in his palm, now seeing all the pieces of support blended together in this little thing. The size of the symbolism was immense. Her fingers were afraid to touch it.

She looked into his eyes again. _Is this really happening?_ Her heart pounded with equal fervor as his.

Luke swallowed hard to stare at her. He rubbed his lips and forced himself to breathe. And then he whispered it, "Will you marry me?"

Kess exhaled in a laughing smile. She flew into his arms and kissed him on the mouth. Luke released a smile of relief. He wrapped both arms around her and hugged so hard that he picked her up.

He kissed her again, this time holding both sides of her face to do it, but the kiss fell apart to end in a nose-to-nose giggle of giddy nerves.

And the image began to drift away.

Luke let go only enough to unravel the string from his hands and hook it over her head. Kess grinned down at it on her neck and smiled back up at him.

Then Luke took Kess's face with both hands and kissed her again.

The view shrank further.

 _Not yet._

 _It's time._

In the retracting distance, the two bodies burst into action on the beach. The body in black chased the body in bone-white, but the chase reached hardly ten meters away before the tackle. They rolled until sand covered them both. The rolling slowed. And finally settled still as the couple began to make out in a sand dune.

.

 _Come on, old friend._

Anakin let go of the pulsating life and floated away. Pieces of his uniqueness spilled into the void like drips of water into an ocean.

Obi Wan's existence glowed softly to watch a moment longer. Then he, too, dissipated entirely.

.

 _The Force will be with you, always._

 _._


	54. About The List

I have never cried so much writing a book.

I did not choose who would live or die. I was building up to killing a certain character (and knew there would have to be more than one in a battle of this magnitude), but when I reached the chapter to have to write it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I just couldn't do it. I wrote all the way to the end of the battle and its Aftermath without making a decision, so I let the Force choose for me.

I put every Living Legend-named character in a bucket and rolled a 20-sided die.

It took a lot of Jedi control not to roll or draw again.

Zach Vanech is the only loss not on the list. Because of plot, the only names excluded from the draw were Luke, Kess, and Nik. I rolled once more (and got 2) to bucket-pick from those on who would be wounded instead of dead. Once I learned who we lost, the only correction I made was Luke's reaction in Aftermath because he would know about Han as soon as Leia found out. All the buildup, relationships, 'locket help', and back-story, up to and including Chapter 39 Aftermath, is as was originally drafted.

The List includes exactly 14 named fictional characters.

It was the hardest chapter to write.

Go read it again.

Because the names beyond the fictional are _monumentally_ more important.

* * *

No war is without casualties. Putting myself in Kess's shoes as she read The List was harder to endure than it was to imagine. At the end of Desert Storm, during which I served on active duty, The List of U.S. Navy KIA was half as long as this one, but it still included one of my closest friends.

As I tried to recreate the anguish of reading such a List, I wanted to pepper it with names not already in the story. I wanted you to feel the truth of it; to search and pause and try to recognize if _this name_ was someone you knew . . . then pause a beat longer to realize that—even if you don't know who it was— _this name_ is still a life lost—a parent, a child, a best friend, a true love.

At first, I considered making up a bunch of random names, but then I was reminded there was already a List out there than needed greater attention. I was surprised to discover no one has yet compiled it. So I set out to do it myself.

The List is incomplete because the main Wikipedia article does not include them all. Toward the middle of my research, fewer articles included the names of the victims, so I started digging into the referenced news reports, and even those grew shorter and more succinct as The List went on and on.

I tried not to include the perpetrators, but some probably bled through. I tried to include the wounded, but most of those victims were not identified. More than a few were armed guards and police officers unable to stop the battle in progress. More than you would guess were too young to own a Star Wars action figure. _Most_ of them were not old enough to vote.

* * *

The List is the victims of America at war with itself.

 _Just_ schools. _Just_ shootings.

From Columbine High School in 1999 to the writing of the chapter in February 2018.

* * *

This isn't about politics; this is about being a Jedi on _this_ planet. Find your peace. Keep your cool. Talk it out. Be patient. Compromise. Reach across the aisle and shake the hand of your enemy—because that's the only real way to stop a war.

Vote.

If you can't vote yet, speak up anyway, and repeat it over and over . . . and _over . . ._ and _over_ again.

On every channel.

In every venue.

In your loudest voice.

Until every living soul complies with the order:

 _"Cease Fire!"_


End file.
